The Saiyan's Cascade
by I-Am-So-Original
Summary: Some lives and destinies can change with a single and simple event. In this alternate universe, King Kai had remembered the 'doomsday' that Raditz-Goku's brother-had predicted for Earth and her people, leading to a story where Son Goku arrived on time to the battlefield. Co-Authors: I-Am-So-Original & Super Vegetarott
1. Chapter 1 - A Timely Intervention

_Welcome to The Saiyan's Cascade; a collaboration between Super Vegetarott and I-Am-So-Original. I-Am-So-Original was the original plot-designer for the story; Super Vegetarott was asked by Original to be a co-author for the story. He accepted, and thus, The Saiyan's Cascade was born. While we are both very busy people with a lot of external commitments, we both hope that you'll follow us for the awesome idea we have in store. The goal of this story is to incorporate all of the movies and OVA's of Dragon Ball (obviously not Evolution, mind you) and introduce them in a way that makes everything logical and able to relate to canon. As such, we will try to include reasoning for why everything happened the way it did in our fanfiction; nothing will go unexplained. We both hope you'll enjoy this story and leave your praise and criticism._

**The Saiyan's Cascade**

**_Saiyan Saga_**

Chapter 1 - A Timely Intervention

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_Cascade: (noun) A process that occurs in successive stages, each of which is dependent on the preceding one, often producing a cumulative effect._

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**_Some lives and destinies can change with a single and simple event. In the story you all know, King Kai had entirely forgotten about the fateful day of the Saiyans' arrival, and had thus forgotten to factor the amount of time Goku would take to get back to the check-in station. However, in this alternate universe, King Kai had remembered the 'doomsday' that Raditz—Goku's brother—had predicted for Earth and her people, leading to a story where Son Goku arrived on time to the battlefield._**

* * *

**_Planet of the North Kai, Age 762:_**

Son Goku landed heavily onto the ground after a strenuous set of two-finger pushups. He wiped his brow with his wristband and flipped over onto his back, gasping heavily as oxygen rushed into his lungs. He lifted himself up and hollered at King Kai, waving his right arm from side to side excitedly.

"Hey King Kai! You finally awake?" Goku yammered quickly. "Awesome! I was just getting a bit hungry; do you have any breakfast?" Suddenly, as if on cue, his stomach rumbled with a planet-shaking force.

The half-awake Kai stumbled backwards, overwhelmed by the daunting task of cooking enough food to satisfy the Saiyan. As he fell backwards, he hit the back of his head on a small pointed rock. The tip jabbed straight into the Deity's lower cranium, and he comically jumped three feet in the air, wailing as his hands covered the throbbing red bump.

As North Kai landed quickly on his feet, his face contorted in horror. _No... it couldn't be possible. How could he have forgotten after all this time? This was bad; very bad. It was not that he lacked any faith in Goku's abilities... But... Could it be that the time had arrived?_

Goku, immediately sensing King Kai's change in aura, jumped to his feet in concern. The rumbling in his stomach ceased and his face maintained a stony expression as he stared at his master with fear and worry.

"It's time... isn't it, King Kai?" Goku asked solemnly, his voice becoming uncharacteristically serious and deep.

The azure-colored deity nodded, swallowing a lump in his throat as he raised his head towards the sky. He stared at his pupil, whom had trained under him so arduously for so long, with concern. "I'm afraid so, Goku. The Saiyans are going to be here in a couple more days. I had almost forgotten to calculate the time it would take you to get back home on Snake—."

Goku's jaw gaped open in horror. "WHAT?! You mean I have to go the ENTIRE WAY BACK on Snake Way?! Can't you just teleport me back to the check-in station or something?"

"Don't worry about that, Goku," the master assured. "By my calculations... if you were to leave right at this moment, with your increased power, you would be able to jet back to Earth's check-in station with plenty of time to spare. Luckily, I remembered about that just in time! Who knows what would have happened if I hadn't, right?" King Kai could not help shudder at the thought of being so close to forgetting about such a crucial piece of information.

"Hahahaha... I guess that's a good thing," Goku chuckled nervously. "I'm pretty sure that I've mastered your techniques by now, so that shouldn't be a problem."

"Well, let's make sure you're certain! Before you go, let's do a last-minute final exam!" King Kai exclaimed. Inside, he knew that Goku had mastered the ancient techniques to a level far beyond his own, but, the frighteningly large power levels of these ruthless Saiyans unnerved him. Goku would have to increase his powers to unprecedented levels if he expected to defeat Prince Vegeta.

He pushed these doubts to the corners of his mind, knowing full well that if he were to reveal them, his pupil would not be able to maintain his focus and concentration on the task at hand. King Kai's mind rushed through a list of possible tests which could prove that Goku had mastered the ancient arts of the Kaioshin. The Kai's blue fingers tapped his chin repeatedly until he had finally made his decision.

"Goku, this will be the last day of your training with me. You've done well, but I'm afraid you're lacking in one area: you still can't seem to deliver a good joke when the pressure's on." North Kai snorted and turned his head towards the brown monkey at his side. As usual, no one on the small planet even cracked a smile. "Okay Bubbles, you're up..."

The cheerful monkey hooted as he approached Goku's side. The 10G gravity seemed to have no effect on his motions, fluid and precise as they were. Bubbles prepared himself for the race that was about to ensue and tensed his muscles, while Goku remained relaxed in his standing position.

"On your mark... Get set... aaaaaaaaaaaand... GO!" King Kai shouted, initiating the race with the click of a stopwatch that he seemed to have materialized out of nowhere.

Bubbles zipped forward, his legs becoming a blur as he attempted to elude the Saiyan's grasp. Unfortunately for Bubbles, however, Goku had already leapt forward and had wrapped his arms around the monkey's stomach in the span of precisely 0.5 seconds.

King Kai was awestruck by the results that were being displayed on his stopwatch. "WOW! Less than a second... A new record." He replaced the device and nodded towards the green insect at his other side.

Goku laughed cheerfully, lightly dropping Bubbles to the ground and anticipating his next challenge. The Saiyan raised on Earth looked to his left and saw King Kai ready to announce the next test.

"Next... Gregory!"

The green cricket jumped forward squealing, "All right! Haha!" in his high-pitched voice as Bubbles handed Goku a heavy blue hammer. Gregory placed two hands to his hips as he powered up for flight.

"On your mark... Get set... Go!" King Kai screamed again as Gregory manifested a blue spherical aura around him. The cricket sped towards Goku, who seemed to dematerialize in front of him. Confused, Gregory decreased his velocity momentarily. Goku reappeared behind Gregory and lightly tapped him on the head with the hammer.

King Kai clicked the stopwatch again and was astonished by the results again.

"1.2?!" he mumbled. "Uh... Astounding!"

Goku beamed, "Hey, thanks!" while Gregory vigorously rubbed his head from the pain.

"Well..." King Kai grinned. "Okay, now it's time to test the Spirit Bomb!"

Goku's eyes narrowed with determination. "I've been waiting for this..." he gripped his right fist and screamed, channeling the power from the surrounding living objects as he bent forward with effort. The flowers and trees seemed to glow with a haze as they released energy into the atmosphere. Goku raised his arms towards the sky, raising his head upwards as he gathered the _genki_ within him. He lowered his arms and exuded an aura of pure power...

"Excellent... Now form it into a ball," coached King Kai from a healthy distance away.

Goku focused his energy flow and slowly coalesced the _genki _into his hands, manifesting it into a tangible form. The white aura around him flared violently as he focused the energy in his fist.

"'Kay... whenever you're ready, King Kai!" he announced, tensing his muscles. "Let 'er rip!"

King Kai nodded in acknowledgement, "Alright! Here goes!" He raised his arm, telekinetically moving a crimson brick through the air.

"Remember Goku, don't use your eyes," the master exclaimed in encouragement. "Feel it out!"

"Right!" nodded the Saiyan as King Kai waved his arm forwards. The brick flew past Goku at an astonishing speed, and followed the curvature of the planet's atmosphere as if it were a satellite.

The crimson brick reached King Kai's location once again, but this time Goku released the energy in his arm with a shout. A white fireball of energy struck the cuboidal object, shattering it into dust with a brilliant explosion. The winds that followed rocked the planet like a hurricane. The houses swayed, and a tree was uprooted by the powerful gusts. Goku released a sigh of relief as he successfully executed the Genki Dama technique.

"Ah... I... can't believe it," King Kai stuttered in awe. "Well done, Goku. To be perfectly honest, I didn't think you'd be able to handle the Spirit Bomb so skillfully!"

"It wasn't easy," Goku claimed as he wiped sweat from his brow.

"Mmm..." King Kai nodded in understanding. "Goku, you mustn't forget: the energy used to form the Spirit Bomb is gathered from all forms of life—from trees, from animals, from plants—even the particles of energy that make up the air in the atmosphere contribute a small share of energy to the bomb. Therefore, you must be very careful. You see, you have mastered the Spirit Bomb here, on this small planet. But the Spirit Bomb that you'll form on Earth, with its innumerable life forms, will have immense power compared to this small one. And if the sun happens to be up when you form the Spirit Bomb, you'll be harnessing and trying to control a power of indescribable magnitude that could easily destroy the Earth if even the slightest error is made when handling it."

"Hmm..." Goku nodded with a grim look on his face.

"If possible, I'd like you to refrain from using the Spirit Bomb, but if you must, use it only once. Understand?"

"Got it," Goku nodded once again, the confident aura returning to his posture. "I'll stick to the Kaio-ken technique. That should do it!"

"Well, I'm afraid the time has finally come for us to say our goodbyes. The Saiyans arrive for Earth soon. So it's best that I send you on your way."

"What about my friends?" Goku asked quizzically. "Don't they still need to wish me back to life?"

"It should take you quite some time to get back, and while you're dead, you'll have additional reserves of energy. If you contact them now, they should be able to revive you by the time you're halfway across Snake Way. That shouldn't be too bad, right?" King Kai seemed perfectly assured of his plan.

"Well, it's gonna take them some time to gather the dragon balls. So I think it'd be best I called them now," Goku exclaimed with glee.

"Okay, then. Before we do that..." King Kai waved his arms as a new uniform appeared, replacing Goku's tattered one. "I made this one light as a feather, and durable enough to reflect small ki attacks. I even added my own logo on the back, so that you can honor to your old master, while giving me some advertising space at the same time!" The blue deity snickered at his joke.

"Awesome! Thank you so much, King Kai!" The Saiyan shouted with enthusiasm.

The North Kai turned around and pointed his back towards Goku, signaling him to place his hand on the deity's back. "All you have to do is tell me who you wanna call, and then talk as if they were right there."

'Now... who do I know that could get this done in the shortest amount of time?' Goku wondered to himself. 'After all... I _am_ in a rush. That last-minute exam that I just took cut my time down significantly. Oh! I know! I'll call Bulma! She'll get this whole thing done as soon as possible!'

The tall, but slender Saiyan placed his hand on King Kai's back, as instructed, and asked to call his friend Bulma. North Kai nodded and connected a telepathic signal between the two friends.

* * *

**_Meanwhile on Earth..._**

A blue-haired woman crashed onto her crimson couch after a long night of work in the lab. She rested her head on a cushion and her legs on the opposite end. Bulma Briefs yawned loudly and raised a hand to her mouth. Just as she was about to rest her eyes for some well-deserved sleep, an echoing voice cut through her mind.

"Hey, Bulma!" yelled the cheerful voice of her childhood friend, Son Goku. "It's me! I can't talk for long; King Kai says we're running out of time, so I'll make it really quick. I need you to gather the dragon balls as soon as you can and wish me back to life. The Saiyans are gonna be here in a few days. Gotta run, bye!"

The genius inventor shot straight up from her resting position and stared at the ceiling with confusion and awe.

_Was that... Son-kun? How was he able to talk to her now? Wasn't he dead? The others had mentioned something about training in the afterlife, but she never expected him to be able communicate so conveniently. Hold on a second... _

Bulma's eyes gaped open as she was suddenly reminded of her responsibility. 'It's gonna be a loooooooong day,' she thought to herself as she put on her trench coat and grabbed the keys to her vehicle. 'I better call Roshi and tell him to get ready...'

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**_Back on King Kai's Planet..._**

"Well, King Kai..." Son Goku began. "It's been an incredible journey! Thank you so much for the training and techniques, not to mention these awesome new clothes! I hope they'll come in handy when I take on the Saiyans..."

"You've taught me as much as I've taught you, Goku," King Kai responded with a wave. "Never forget that. And besides, if anything ever happens to you, you can just come right back here... hahahaha."

Goku chuckled good-naturedly. "There are some things you just don't joke about, King Kai. I promise to put these techniques to good use." He raised two fingers in a sign of both future peace and as a farewell gesture. Well, until next time!"

The Saiyan raised on the Planet Earth leaped off the planet with a powerful grunt and landed on the marble-tiled Snake Way. He took one look back and gave a childish wave before darting off in a streak of blue energy.

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**_Kame House, Several Hours Later:_**

Bulma, Master Roshi and Oolong gathered around the seven orange spheres that had changed their lives forever. Bulma could tell from Goku's rushed tone that their deadline was soon approaching, but for some reason, she could not help but think back to the day she had met Son Goku. That innocent, naive boy had grown up to become an innocent, naive young man; it made her proud to think of Goku as her little brother. She quickly shook her head, thinking her distraction was a symptom of her lack of rest.

She waved her arms above the dragon balls that she had laid upon the sand of the island, shouting, "Eternal Dragon! By your name I evoke thee! Arise, Shenron!"

The seven crystal balls flashed with an ominous yellow shine and a low hum. Stormy grey clouds covered the earth in a blanket of darkness, and bright golden sparks of lightning rained down upon the unsuspecting inhabitants of Planet Earth...

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**_Meanwhile, at Break Wasteland..._**

"A-Ah a storm! I've never seen anything like it!" stammered a young Saiyan hybrid, staring at the rapidly-darkening skies in fear.

However, his master Piccolo stared intently at the clouds with a look of fierce determination; his jaw tightened as he analyzed the implications of such a phenomenon.

'That's no storm...' Piccolo thought to himself, wondering what this could possibly mean for him and his protege...

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**_Back at Kame House..._**

The ominous hum grew louder in intensity and the orbs were bathed in an eerie golden light, causing Oolong to grip the folds of Bulma's dress in fear. Though, of course, there is no true way of telling if he was genuinely scared... or just looking for an opportunity to grope Bulma.

Noticing this scandalous behavior, the blue-haired woman narrowed her eyes in suspicion. She immediately pushed Oolong away, overcoming his fierce resistance with pure willpower. If stares were daggers, the pig would be nothing more than diced cubes. Bulma fixed her eyes at Oolong, silently threatening him.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning was released from the spheres into the sky, diverting Bulma's attention. This "reverse lightning bolt" curved and twisted in the air, and from it was borne an emerald green dragon. Its red eyes stared menacingly at the creatures who had dared disturb it from its slumber.

"WHO DARES DISTURB MY SLUMBER?" boomed Shenlong, the dragon of Earth, his voice echoing through the sky.

'Uh... I don't think I'll ever get used to this,' thought Oolong to himself. 'Even my nose hairs are standing up!'

"Ahem... Mr. Shenron... sir?" coughed Bulma timidly. "Hi there! Umm, I know we're all running short on time here, so... Could you please-"

"...kill the Saiyans who are coming here to Earth!" interrupted Oolong, too selfish and cowardly to care about the fate of his oldest friend.

Muten Roshi gaped open in horror as all hope seemed to drain the color from his skin. 'How could he just waste our wish so easily?! Goku's our friend! We need to bring him back to life!'

Fortunately for them, however, Shenlong shook his head slowly. "YOUR WISH CANNOT BE GRANTED," he boomed. "FOR THE WISHES REQUESTED UPON THOU CANNOT EXCEED THE STRENGTH OF THE GUARDIAN OF EARTH, WHO HATH GIVEN ME LIFE."

Bulma heaved a sigh of relief and glared at Oolong for nearly wasting their wish. She took a deep breath and shouted, "Then we wish for you to revive the soul of Son Goku. Please bring him back to life!"

The dragon's eyes glowed bright red as the legendary hero of Earth was brought to life once again. The gang looked around, turning their heads from side to side, expecting to see their hero standing next to them... However, Son Goku was nowhere to be found.

But somehow, Bulma knew in her heart that the wish had worked... She knew that Goku was going to return... and that he was going to save them all... It was only a matter of time...

* * *

**_A Few Days Later..._**

At precisely 11:43 AM in East City, two UFO's had landed on the Earth. Obviously, this attracted many to investigate these objects. Upon further inspection, the UFO's were identified as spaceships. As a throng of citizens gathered around the mysterious pieces of technology that had invaded their homes, a pneumatic hiss rang through the air. The two orb-like objects released steam as their doors opened, both revealing a figure. One looked bulky and powerful; the other slim and short. If they only knew the danger that these two mysterious aliens had brought along with them...

The croud murmured even louder as the two aliens revealed themselves to look like... humans! They looked exactly like humans, albeit with strange clothing, and a furry brown belt of some sort.

How was this possible? What did this new revelation mean? How would this discovery change the definition of history?

All of these questions resonated through the minds of these innocent humans... but none of them were to be answered.

For at that precise moment, the Saiyan Nappa-the giant inhabitant of one of the spaceships-promptly decimated the city by merely lifting two fingers. A giant wave of blue energy shot across the diameter of the city, reducing it to nothing more than rubble.

The sudden exertion of ki rang through the Z-Fighters' minds like nails on a chalkboard. This power was easily more than double the energy that Raditz had displayed nearly a year before. Piccolo, Gohan, Tien, Krillin, Yamcha, and Chiaotzu all nodded in unison, despite having been in different locations. It was time to put their training to the test.

The Saiyans had arrived on Earth, and had claimed the first blood. It was a signal... The Battle for Earth had officially begun.

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**_Paprika Wasteland, Several Hours Later..._**

With a mighty shout, Yamcha knocked back the green creature with a cupped strike to the solar plexus. However, the Saibaman simply caught itself on its hands, flipped over, and darted back into battle with a headbutt to Yamcha's chest, forcing him to stagger backwards.

It was unreal, this creature's strength. From what the Saiyans had told them, the cultivated life forms-referred to as Saibamen-had power levels that equated to that of Raditz, the Saiyan who'd attacked Earth nearly a year ago. It was mind-boggling to think that these warriors could _grow_ their own Raditzes. If Raditz was really that weak... what could it say about these Saiyans' power levels? Yamcha dared not ask...

However, the thief-turned-hero did not allow this to discourage him. If anything, it motivated him to persevere even more so. Kami's training on the lookout had elevated his power to levels that he once thought were impossible to attain, and he had done so in the short time-span of one year! If Tien could overwhelm one of these cultivated life forms, Yamcha knew he could as well.

With renewed resolve, he rushed forward and engaged the imp with a series of blows, breaking right through the creature's defenses and delivering a series of brutal punches and blows to his opponent's abdomen.

After dealing what he thought to be enough damage, Yamcha went in for the kill; he tucked his left leg into his right and rushed forward with a kick that sent the creature into a mountain of rock.

"And that takes care of that!" Yamcha turned to his fellow fighters, puffed out his chest, and smirked. "See, it was nothing!"

**"**Jujariba!**"**

Pivoting on his heel, Yamcha gasped. "W-Wha?!"

The Saibamen rushed forward and rammed its fist into Yamcha's face, causing the bandit to cover his eyes as he backed away in pain from the sucker punch. The cultivated creature capitalized on its opportunity, burying its foot into Yamcha's ribcage.

However, Yamcha refused to lose; he would NOT be proven a laughingstock again! Willing himself onwards, the former bandit ignored the pain in his body and rushed forward with a kick to the creature's chest, dragging him upwards and sending him flying into the air.

The Saibaman flipped in mid-air and flew towards Yamcha, its green arms outstretched and a sneer forming on its lips. Yamcha responded with a clever sneer of his own as he vanished from the creature's sight. The green being screeched to halt in mid-air, turning its head from side to side, wondering to where his prey could possibly have run off.

Suddenly, a _ZIP_ noise was heard behind the Saibaman's head. Yamcha reappeared behind his opponent, his legs pointed towards its neck. He bent his right leg and quickly outstretched it, the strike colliding with the Saibaman's neck with a loud CRACK.

All the Z-fighters cheered in excitement, anticipating Yamcha's finishing move. They knew it was over; the vile creature had fallen for Yamcha's trap! The Saibaman was launched towards the ground as a result of the kick.

With a grin on his face, the scar-faced bandit cupped his hands to his right hip, charging a pulsing blue blast in the creases of his palm. "Take this!_ Kaaaa...meee...haaa...meee...HAA_!"

The blast rocketed out of Yamcha's palms, arcing through the air as it traveled to meet the Saibaman head-on, colliding with a blue flare of light and sandwiched the cultivated lifeform with the ground in a massive mushroom-shaped dust cloud.

As it dispersed, a soft-pitched whine filled the air, leaving no trace of the Saibaman behind. Yamcha grinned toothily at his handiwork and turned around, eyes closed and fist raised in victory. "Looks like that's done. Anyone else want a crack at these imps, or should I just clean-"

"Gyyaaaa!"

Suddenly, Yamcha pivoted on his heel with a horrified stare as the Saibaman pounced; the creature starting to glow with an exuberant light.. He was a fool; he shouldn't have underestimated his opponent. He'd done so before, and it'd nearly cost him everything-including his life. His friends were just as stupefied as he was; there was no time for them to act. Even Piccolo, the strongest among them, wouldn't be able to intercept the cultivated life-form. The former bandit closed his eyes, accepting death as it stared him between the eyes.

_ZIP! WWWWHHOOOOSSSH!_

A gust of wind blew through the air currents, causing Yamcha's hair to blow violently in the breeze; he had to shield his eyes from the constant dust and debris that were flung in his face.

"Stay away from my friend!"

_That voice...it couldn't have been..._

His eyes opened.

Suddenly, a tall, powerful figure donned in a bright orange gi appeared in front of him. His azure belt flowed gently in the calming winds as he took a step forward, his dark boots kicking up dust in the barren wasteland below him. With a fierce grunt, he powered up briefly, his white-blue aura knocking the cunning creature back. He quickly raised his arm and screamed fiercely, releasing a jet of concentrated wind that ripped the would-be assassin to shreds.

All the fighters, including the remaining Saibamen, gasped at the appearance of this phantom. The Z-fighters' mouths gaped in shock, and the Saiyans' eyes widened at his sudden display of power...

Only one thought ran through their minds: The moment for which they had waited for so long had finally come...

Son Goku, the Saiyan raised on Earth, had finally arrived...

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**_T__hat concludes Chapter 1 of __The Saiyan's Cascade__. We worked extensively on this chapter, and the effort hopefully shows. As stated above, both I-Am-So-Original and Super Vegetarott are busy people, both with real life and other commitments. However, we will strive to give you the fastest update we can with only the highest quality we can offer. Thanks for reading __The Saiyan's Cascade__'s first chapter, and we both hope you'll join us for the rest of the story!_**


	2. Chapter 2 - Justice with a Side of Venge

_Thanks to everyone who enjoyed The Saiyan's Cascade enough to continue on with our story; we were overjoyed with breaking the double-digits in review count, favorites, and follows all in one chapter. Sorry for the chapter uploads being very inconsistent, but rest assured every moment we have the ability to work on TSC, we do so. Judging by the reviews last chapter, the story has a great reception, so these chapters will be well worth the wait._

_Also, one thing about the collaborative work of TSC is that we have one of us that mostly covers dialogue, while the other covers the majority of the battles. If you can guess which one of us fulfills those specific roles, let us know through a review and we'll tell you how psychic you are in a shoutout next chapter. If you're looking for our own works(in addition to TSC, of course!), feel free to read Sins of the Father (Super Vegetarott) and The Genetic Bridge (I-Am-So-Original). Well, that's enough of an author's note; please enjoy this second chapter! _

**The Saiyan's Cascade**

**_Saiyan Saga_**

Chapter 2: Justice with a Side of Vengeance

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**_Paprika _****_Wasteland, Age 762:_**

Suddenly, the messy-haired figure raised his head; his gaze locked onto the two Saiyans, Nappa and Vegeta, paying no heed to his fellow comrades nor the Saibamen.

"So..." he growled with gritted teeth. "You two must be the Saiyans that Raditz warned us about." His gaze was nearly one of steel, unwavering or faltering in any way. Son Goku was _angry_, an emotion he rarely felt. The fact that Yamcha's life was to be snuffed out without a moment's thought enraged his very soul to the core.

Above all though, he was relieved. The Earth-raised Saiyan realized he had arrived just in time. Had he been a moment later, Yamcha would have been killed. Goku could visualize it: Yamcha's charred body rotting on the wasteland; Chiaotzu blown to bits... Even Piccolo would lay in defeat to the power of these mighty Saiyans had he not shown up. The thought haunted and repulsed him.

"And who're you supposed to be?" spoke the smooth, baritone voice of the Saiyan Prince Vegeta. "Another clown to witness the slaughter?"

The other warriors were awestruck by the sudden display of power. Krillin had almost missed the entire event when he blinked; Tien's third eyes quivered astonishedly; and Yamcha could do nothing more than stutter in shock.

"D-Daddy!"

Breaking his gaze at the two malevolent beings, Goku turned to face a young boy_—_filled with optimism_—_running towards him, donned in a purple cloth that suspiciously reminded him of Piccolo's. Above all, he was just happy to see his son; it'd been nearly a year since he'd been able to see his boy.

"Gohan!" He reached out and grasped the hybrid in his arms, pulling him up to his shoulders as he looked at him. "Wow...you've gotten taller!"

"Daddy!" Gohan screamed again in glee, gripping his father's neck in his arms. "You're here! You're finally here!" Tears formed in the eyes of the warrior who had been toughened by Piccolo's harsh training regimen.

Goku was caught off-guard by his son's sudden increase in strength. "Whoa there, buddy!" he coughed suddenly. "Man... you've really beefed up a lot, haven't ya? Has Piccolo been feedin' you right?"

Son Gohan pushed back a bit and stared at his father with a gaping expression, still unable to believe his father was standing before his very eyes. It'd been nearly a full year since he'd seen his father; it was almost unreal. The hybrid was tempted to pinch himself, but somehow he knew that it was truly his father that was preparing to fight. "Hahahah," he chuckled. "Mr. Piccolo would never stoop that low, hehe."

From the corner of his eyes, Goku noticed the former Demon King smirk in pride; the Saiyan responded with a grin of his own, and set his son on the ground. Suddenly, his face returned to that uncharacteristically serious demeanor that Piccolo knew so well. The green being's mind flashed back to his father's memories. The glare reminded him of the expression Goku had worn right before he had ended the Demon King's life. The time had come. The Saiyan raised on Earth was about to end this conflict once and for all_—_once again, the Namekian was powerless in the decision.

Son Goku turned around to face the green beings that had been trembling in fear. One of them grimaced and mustered his courage. The Saibaman raised an arm and shifted his weight to his right foot, ready to pounce. Goku stepped forward, ready to end the lives of the vile, cowardly creatures, but Yamcha stopped him quickly. The bandit placed a hand on Goku's shoulder, his expression grim.

"I'm sorry, Goku..." he started, trying hard not to tremble from the overwhelming shock of nearly perishing to the Saibaman's sneak attack. "But I would have died if it hadn't been for you. I've been given another chance to fix my mistake, and I intend to do so."

"Huh... Would you look at that," Tien whispered, impressed, to Krillin and Chiaotzu below him. "Yamcha's finally learning to grow as a warrior. He's learning from his mistakes."

Krillin nodded in agreement. "Yeah... Looks like Kami and Popo's training really paid off. Yamcha knew that his arrogance had almost led to his demise. He probably won't make the same mistake aga_—_"

"So that's why I'm going to take out ALL of these bastards!" Yamcha proclaimed, his overconfident grin returning. He pushed Goku to the side, and pointed a threatening index finger towards the Saibamen.

Tien, Krillin and Chiaotzu all stumbled backwards onto their feet, their legs raised comically to the sky. Krillin jumped up quickly, dusted off his gi, and mumbled in disappointment, "I guess we spoke too soon..."

"C'mon! I'll take you all out at once!" Yamcha stepped forward and entered an offensive stance. He taunted them further, raising a thumb to himself. "What's the matter? You punks too scared to take on the mighty Yamcha?"

The Saibaman snickered and giggled at the human's stupidity; even the two Saiyans began to guffaw loudly at the weakling's foolish proclamation.

"Did you hear that, Nappa?" the shorter of the two Saiyans snickered. "The puny Earthling thinks he can take on ALL of the Saibamen. HAHAHAH!"

"Hehehehe..." Nappa chuckled. "If memory serves me right, didn't he struggle against ONE of these little guys? What's he gonna do against FOUR of 'em?"

Yamcha's eyebrow twitched in annoyance and his grin turned to a scowl. "Grrr... Alright then!" he growled, ignited by his fierce determination. "If you think you're so tough, how about YOU take me on instead?!"

Goku's eyes turned quickly towards his friend and glared intently. "Yamcha..." he scolded sternly. "There's a time for joking around, and there's a time to be serious. Be careful; these Saiyans are beyond anything I've ever seen in my life..."

Yamcha shook his head vigorously, "You're right, Goku. I'm sorry... I guess I just got carried away. But I'll show these bastards who's boss!"

Goku grinned, confident in his friend's skills. "Then let's go! Show 'em what it means to mess with our planet!"

"Ah..." breathed Vegeta as he assembled all the pieces of the puzzle together. "So you must be Kakarott, the renegade that killed Raditz a year ago..."

Goku turned and glared intently at the short Saiyan and gritted his teeth. "My name isn't Kakarott... I'm Son Goku, and this planet is my home! I'm offering you the chance to turn back and never return."

"How dare you address our Prince that way!" roared the mighty Saiyan Nappa. His muscles bulged and a vein pulsed in his forehead at the upstart's disrespect. "Why I oughta—"

"It's okay, Nappa. Leave him be," assured the Prince, a sneer forming on his lips. "He has no clue about us... It's only natural for him to feel threatened."

Nappa calmed down slightly and picked up his scouter once again. He pressed the red button on its side, powering it on and scanning the newcomer's power level. Goku, remembering the device that Raditz had worn, relaxed his muscles and his power level. He wanted to maintain the element of surprise.

The power-scanning device clicked and beeped until it displayed a number. Nappa glanced at it and gaped at the number. For all the hype and trust the Earthlings seemed to place in Kakarott, it appeared he wouldn't be any more of a challenge than the foolish human was against the Saibaman. "Five hundred?! Five HUNDRED?! HA! Even the little clown over there is stronger than you!"

"Nappa," Vegeta sighed out of resignation. "How many times do I have to tell you? You can't trust your scouter when it comes to these people. They can obviously restrain their power levels!"

"Speaking of power levels," Krillin mumbled to Tien. "How come none of us could sense Goku when he showed up? You'd think at least ONE of us would pick up on that, right?"

"No..." Piccolo interrupted, causing the two bald warriors to look towards him. "He was moving far too quickly for us to even register it. Also, we were so focused on Yamcha's fight that we didn't even notice any other power levels coming this way."

He pointed towards the sky, "I bet you didn't even notice the Flying Nimbus cloud over there..."

"What?!" the two warriors yelped simultaneously. Their eyes shot straight up, where they noticed a yellow cloud silently hovering dozens of feet above them. Carefully hidden between the folds on the top was a small brown bag tied with a rope. Suddenly, the two humans understood Piccolo's _true _purpose in pointing that out. There were senzu beans up there, hidden carefully so that they could only be accessed if necessary.

Vegeta turned his attention back towards Goku and smirked. "So, Kakarott... Will you let your pathetic friend die at the hands of these Saibamen? Or will you take them on instead? Either way, I'm interested to see the result."

Both Nappa and the Prince knew that if Goku were to accept the challenge, it would be easier to get an accurate reading of his power level. After all, based off their earlier analysis of Raditz's commentary over a year ago, these fighters seemed to show their true power by focusing it into a single focal point mid-battle. Perhaps Kakarott would be a fool and fall for their trap. If not... Well, at least they would have a good laugh at the pathetic human. What was his name again? Jamaica? It did not matter; he would be dead soon anyways.

Goku caught on to Vegeta's ploy and exhibited a confident grin of his own. "Sorry to disappoint you, but neither of those are going to happen. Yamcha's going to take them all out! Just you wait!"

* * *

**_Meanwhile, at Kame House..._**

Bulma, Master Roshi, and the Ox King kept their eyes locked onto the cube-shaped television while Chi-Chi rested on the sofa behind them. It had been a stressful time for all of them; not only had the Saiyans decimated East City with ease, but now there were six _additional _warriors that the heroes of Earth had to fight. Each of these vile, putrid green creatures were cackling as they encircled Yamcha.

Earlier, for some reason, Yamcha had been seen talking to someone else. Due to the poor camera angles of the news broadcasters, the visitors could not tell who exactly it was. At first they had believed it to be Krillin, judging by the blue boots, but that was impossible... Krillin could be seen right next to Tien, gaping upwards at something in the sky. From what Bulma could infer, the cameramen seemed to be hiding behind a pile of rocks, which prevented the viewers from getting a clearer view.

_Hold on... that had to mean..._ Bulma's genius mind whirred (metaphorically, of course) as she connected the dots. _It could only mean one thing..._

"GOKU'S BACK!" the blue-haired scientist jumped, cheering out of joy. "He HAD to have been the one who saved Yamcha! No one else could possibly be that strong!"

At the sound of the word 'Goku', Chi-Chi woke up and leaped towards the TV, violently shoving the others out of the way. "Where is he?! Where's my Goku?!" she screamed frantically.

Tears rolled out of her eyes as she caressed the image-displaying box. "My Goku... He's back... He'll take care of my baby... Everything's finally gonna be alright..."

Bulma comforted the sobbing ex-widow and hugged her tightly. She thought back to how close Yamcha was to his own demise. The azure-haired scientist sobbed softly, both out of fear for Yamcha and out of gratefulness for Goku's timely arrival.

'With Goku back, everything's gonna change,' Bulma thought, hardening her resolve. 'I just know it. Go get 'em, Son-kun...'

* * *

**_Back at Paprika Wasteland..._**

Yamcha re-entered his fighting stance and beckoned the green creatures with a wave of his fingers. One of the remaining four Saibamen dashed forward with a battle cry, testing his defenses with a forearm swipe. However, the former bandit was able to counter by bringing up his right arm to cover his left, resulting in a power struggle between the two warriors.

Another Saibaman, ever the opportunist, rocketed forward with the intention of sweeping Yamcha's legs out from underneath him. Unfortunately for the team of artificial organisms, the invigorated human was able to see the sneak attack coming, and quickly used his superior strength to push away the struggling creature in time to sidestep the other, letting him fall face-first into the grassy wasteland.

However, the Saibaman he'd pushed away was giving Yamcha no reprieve; he dashed forward and caught Yamcha off-guard with a right hook to the cheek, sending him flying backwards with his long hair flowing backwards. The Saibaman that Yamcha had sidestepped moments prior took advantage of the man's long hair by firmly gripping onto it and hurling him into a mountainside; the collision caused pillars of smoke and debris to rise into the air.

"Y-Yamcha!" Goku shouted, ready to jump into the fight. Internally, the Saiyan was conflicted; should he jump into the fray? Judging by how easy it was to dispatch of the other creatures, the Saiyan knew that he would be able to finish the battle with minimal effort. However, his former rival refused to give in—his sheer determination of prevailing on his own kept Goku on the sidelines.

Finally, Yamcha stood, coughing and wiping some dust off of his orange gi. "You think that's the best of me?" He closed his eyes and extended his right palm, channeling all of his inner energy into his hand. It felt empowering; overwhelming... but the human knew without it, he'd fare no chance. It was either prove himself...or perish.

Goku leaned forward, ready to help his friend. He raised his power level slightly and prepared to pounce on the Saibamen, when suddenly...

"Goku! Stay back!" yelled Yamcha, raising an arm outwards. "I told you... these bastards are MINE! Don't you dare try to intervene!"

Piccolo, realizing what Yamcha was about to do quickly formulated a plan that would take care of two birds with one stone. He twitched his antennae and telepathically instructed the others to follow his lead.

'Yamcha's about to end this fight with his most powerful attack; and if I'm right, it should be able to wipe out all these pesky Saibamen for good. As soon as it hits, scatter around and get behind the brute.' He quickly analyzed his environment. 'They can't sense power levels, and the explosion would make for the perfect cover. Make sure it looks like we're avoiding the blast, or else we'll give ourselves away. It's the perfect opportunity... if we kill the Saibamen AND Nappa, there's a good chance we can work together to take on the shorter one... Something tells me he's in a league of his own...'

Goku turned his eyes slightly backwards and continued, 'I'll stay right here. If I don't run away from the explosion, it'll throw off their guard. That way, their attention will be focused on me, and you can do what you need to do.'

Gohan nodded, his determination steeled by his father's presence and Piccolo's confidence. 'I'll try to grab his tail. That should do the trick!'

Just then, Yamcha turned his intense gaze back to the Saibamen. "As for you runts... you ready?!" A bright sphere illuminated the air around the tense battlefield, seeming to draw in the attention of the fighters around him. "Spirit Ball Attack!"

The sphere launched forward at a blinding pace. It shimmered and glowed brightly, slightly entrancing the Saibamen and breaking their concentration. In their daze, their reaction speed dulled, but not enough for them to be hit.

Yamcha strained his muscles and lifted his two index fingers up, telepathically redirecting the Spirit Ball. However, the Saibamen just continued dodging and dodging. Gritting his teeth tighter, Yamcha moved his right hand and its two primary fingers in a star-shaped performance. The reformed thief prayed with all his might that one of these creatures would slip up, that he would land at least one explosive hit.

"Alright, then. If _that's_ how you wanna play it..." Yamcha grunted. He moved the ball towards him and effortfully extended the fingers of his right hand outwards. The sphere grew in volume and power, fueled by Yamcha's sheer willpower and determination. 'I'm sick and tired of these guys treating me like a joke!' he thought to himself, empowering his resolve. 'It's time I showed them what it means to mess with me! Bulma... I hope you're watching...'

He waved his right hand in the formation of what looked suspiciously like a pentagram, rapidly moving the energy sphere through the air. Suddenly noticing an opening in the Saibamen's defenses, he slammed his arm towards the floor, directing the blast straight down.

'NOW!' yelled Piccolo telepathically. It was time for his plan to work; with the element of surprise on their side, nothing could possibly go wrong.

In a blinding flash of light, the volatile Sokidan made contact with the flesh of one of the Saibamen, causing it to detonate violently. Piccolo and the others (sans Goku) dashed quickly out of the way and around the mountainous structures to get behind Nappa. Gohan grabbed the brute's tail and gripped it firmly, remembering the pain Raditz had suffered about a year ago. Tien and Piccolo arrived at the same time, each facing one of Nappa's shoulders.

"MASENKO HA!" roared Piccolo, raising his arms above him and directing a yellow beam of light towards Nappa's left shoulder. He knew that it would have been more effective to use the Makankosappo attack, but the Masenko had a smaller charge time. The purple-clad being hoped that Gohan's antics would lower the giant's ki level enough to cause sufficient damage.

"TRI-BEAM HA!" yelled Tien. He placed his hands in a triangular formation above his chest and released a square of pure energy.

As Vegeta turned around in shock and surprise, he felt a strange electric sensation across his body. He managed to strain his neck backwards enough to see Chiaotzu from a distance, a blue aura surrounding him. The Prince followed the trail of blue energy and noticed that the clown was... paralyzing him!

'How is it that this pathetic weakling can restrain ME?!' Vegeta thought agitatedly. 'I am the Prince of a legendary warrior race!'

'I see that Chiaotzu's done some training of his own,' Tien internally deduced. 'That sure was lucky...'

However, it seemed that the Z-warriors' luck had just run out. As soon as the smoke began to fade, a Saibaman leaped from the dust and pounced on Gohan. The semi-Saiyan's grip on Nappa's tail suddenly slipped as he sprawled away beneath the creature, whose cranium began to slowly crack open to release drops of acid.

Gohan screamed in fear as he looked straight into the soulless, sadistic eyes of the Saibaman. The Saiyan struggled to wriggle out of its harsh death-grip and began to cry.

"GOHAN!" yelled Goku and Piccolo simultaneously, suddenly understanding the gravity of the situation. The former rivals shifted their weight as they prepared to interfere, when suddenly_—_

"...HAAA!" a light blue beam of pure power rocketed from behind a boulder and curved towards the Saibaman. The green creature disintegrated immediately, leaving behind nothing more than dust.

"Well... now, that was a close one," chuckled Krillin, revealing himself from his hiding place. He dusted the dirt of his gi and entered a defensive position. "Now... let's see if there are any more of those bastards left..."

"You... killed... every last one of them..." muttered Nappa, his rage paralyzing him in place. "You... grabbed my tail... defiled my Saiyan honor... attacked me behind my back..."

Vegeta gathered his willpower and mentally broke the telepathic chains that connected him to Chiaotzu. He turned to face Goku and Nappa, anger flaring in his eyes. "You... Kakarott... You're a disgrace to our species... Only a coward would attack a man behind his back! Where's your pride, you low-level scum?! Where's your honor?"

"...And _you_..." grumbled Nappa, turning to Gohan, whose mouth gaped wide open in fear, both of his close encounter with death, and of Nappa's wrath. "How DARE you... You grabbed my tail! That's the lowest any warrior could ever stoop to! Just for that... I'm going to personally choke the life out of you! Just you wait!"

"Not so fast," declared the stoic voice of Piccolo Junior. "If you're gonna even _think _about laying a hand on him, you're gonna have to get through me first."

"Fine. By. Me," grinned Nappa sadistically. He took a second to observe his armor... or rather, lack thereof. "Wha-?! My armor! My beautiful armor! It's gone! Oh that's it... you're soooooo gonna get it now."

Krillin, unable to keep the overconfidence from lacing his words, suddenly laughed heroically. "But that's not all! While you were being hit, I took the chance to blow up those scooter-thingies on the ground! Looks like you're not gonna be able to see us coming. If only you guys knew how to sense ki..."

Vegeta checked the floor to confirm the baldy's claims, and sure enough... the shattered and charred remains of the scouter laid at his feet. "Nappa... you take the half-breed and his guardian angels. I'll take the midgets and the renegade..."

Nappa's grimace formed into a sneer. "Oooh, you guys are screwed now... You just got Vegeta involved in this fight. Hehehehe I'd wish you good luck... but even _that _won't be enough to save you from his wrath..."

* * *

_What will happen to our heroes, now that they've intervened in the fight? How do they plan on taking on the mighty Nappa and the sinister Vegeta? Can they win? Or is the Earth doomed to destruction at the hands of these invaders? __Find out next time on Dragon Ball: The Saiyan's Cascade..._

* * *

**_Thanks for reading the second chapter of The Saiyan's Cascade! Not much to discuss in this author's commentary, but a lot certainly happened in the chapter._**

**_We really hope you enjoyed Yamcha having his own moment in the Saiyan battle. Quite frankly, the way Yamcha is utilized around the fanfiction community is nearly always to pull punches at him. While we're not Yamcha fans entirely, we felt it was fair for the Scar-Faced Bandit to at least have one moment to shine._**

**_Much like BoD, BTtL, HT, and our own fanfictions (TGB and SotF, respectively), we'll be hosting a Q&A session at the end of each chapter. We really feel that it keeps up the practice of reading and reviewing, and it also helps to clear up any confusion in the story. Our goal is to be as precise and crystal clear as possible; we want to make it as enjoyable and logical to our loyal readers as we see it here today._**

* * *

_Q: First off, if there's one thing I don't like already, it's the use of terms like Son-Kun and Muten Roshi. I understand that those are the original Japanese names, but it's just a pet peeve of mine._

_A: Well, we like to pay homage to the original Japanese dubs and the FUNimation dub, with which we had been introduced to Dragon Ball Z. Our goal was to maintain a healthy dose of both Japanese and English names; that's why you'll see us use terms like "Genki Dama" and "Spirit Bomb" interchangeably. For the most part, we tend to use Japanese terms in narrative, while using the English names in dialogue. We feel that it keeps it all balanced and pays respect to every dub of one of the greatest animes out there._

_Q: Otherwise, I like the characterization used. From King Kai's awful sense of humor to Oolong's cowardice, you've done a fantastic job at keeping characters in their rightful character and not making anyone OOC._

_A: Thanks! That's definitely our goal. We want to create a realistic and authentic alternate universe in which the Z-fighters are still the warriors we know and love!_

_Q: Will you be listing Power Levels? As annoying as they can get, I find them to be useful._

_A: Right after the premiere of the first chapter, we consulted about this. Honestly, while we could devise power levels for the entire continuity, we're not going to do so just to follow traditional DBZ. Remember that the goal of our story is to provide a logical chain—a cascade, if you will—of events that would similarly follow the style of Dragon Ball Z if the simple change of Goku arriving on Earth on time had happened. There will be occasions in which we'll list who's stronger than who, but only as arbitrary comparisons. So to answer your question, we will not be doing so. If you've read BTtL, there was one chapter(Chapter 30 or so) where Captain Space/Tiencha gave out an arbitrary list of characters. If enough questions arise about the power levels, then we'll most likely give out this form of power level comparison._

_Q: It's well-written, and the title's cool too(always a plus)._

_A: We spent quite a lot of time coming up with the title, trust us. Original also spent a rather lengthy discussion with American Vigor, who gave us lots of great advice!_

_Q: Didn't npberryhill and davidstarlingm bring something like this up in Bringer of Death?_

_A: Ah, we were waiting to see how long it would it take for someone to bring this point up. You see, the idea for TSC popped up rather recently. A while ago, Davidstarlingm and Original discussed (in a rather lengthy conversation) possible ways of incorporating all the DBZ movies into one continuous timeline. Obviously, due to inconsistencies, that would be impossible. Original then suggested that it could all fit in one ALTERNATE timeline! Soon after, in the Author's Sections of Chapters 46 and 47 in Bringer of Death, David and Npberryhill alluded to this idea, due to that. So... it wasn't inspired by the BoD duo, but that conversation led to the fanfic you're currently reading today._

_Q: Like Full Power down below, I don't really like the use of Son-kun and Muten Roshi. It just bugs the crap out of me._

_A: Well, we're not really going to incorporate many Japanese terms into the story; just the basics like "Son-kun" and occasionally "Kami-Sama." It's more of just a homage to the original language of the DBZ anime/manga; without Toriyama, you wouldn't have DBZ. Plus, DBM occasionally(more times than not) utilize the Japanese terms. The spelling of names like "Frieza/Freeza," "Kuririn/Krillin" and "Kakkarot/Kakarot/Kakarotto/Kakarott" all depends on the dub you're watching. We actually had a quick conversation on that as we wrote up the Q&A!_

_Q: Unlike other people, I really enjoyed the use of japenese [sic] terms in the story. Though I do have a question. Shouldn't you credit Super Vegetarott in the summary of the story? I mean, it's obviously not that big a deal but otherwise people might just comment on Original making an awesome story(like someone did in the reviews already), and I don't think it would be fair if Super wasn't credited for it as well._

_A: You're absolutely right! That's why as soon as we read this comment, we made sure to mention Super's contributions in the description. While Original had the main plot ideas for TSC, Super has and will continue to play a big role in the fanfiction's production. _

_Q: I've gotta wonder about the ending, though; I don't need you need that little ... at the end there. Perhaps a period or exclamation point would be better._

_A: It all depends on what rhetorical effect you're looking for. If you want to leave your audience hanging, then you'd use an ellipsis; that way, they expect more, but they don't get it. It also leaves them hanging, which was the effect we wanted to have in the first chapter. An introduction, in our opinion, is something that pulls your reader in; shows them what stands out from the rest of the pack. _

_Q: Used my same opening sentence in your author's note as I did, I see ;) No problem, I borrowed it from DBM too :P … Interesting premise. While I'm not sure that this would truly change things in the series as much, I trust that you two will figure out something interesting_

_A_**:**_ You caught us... damn. XD. Remember though, all alternate universes start off with one small tweak to the series... they then accumulate and become a completely different story. In fact, I recall that someone on the DBM2 forum called this a 'baseline canon' universe; I was pretty surprised by the post. Our story, while it tries to include canonical characters and movies and fit them in logically, diverges far more from canon than people would guess from the title or the summary. _

_Q:Though, it only took him two days to come back through snake way, and yet he comes only one hour earlier than in the Canon._

_A: Actually... Soon after all the Saibamen were killed, the fighters took a three-hour break. And even further beyond that, the remaining Z-fighters put up a really long fight against Nappa. As we all know very well, DBZ doesn't show time progression very well. This is often due to filler episodes padding out the amount of time that progresses as fights continue on. Honestly, we don't think we've ever seen an actual "night-time" scene during a major fight. When Goku showed up in canon, it looked like it was about evening time; but once Goku and Vegeta took off to the Rocky Plains, the lighting changed to daytime again. King Kai specifically states to Goku that it will take him two days to journey across Snake Way at top speed, and it's not entirely unreasonable to think that the ENTIRE fight between the Z-fighters and Nappa took place over the course of an entire day. Also, keep in mind that in this story, Goku might not have necessarily been running back on Snake Way at the same rate as his canon counterpart. This allows us to easily (and conveniently) have TSC Goku arrive the moment Yamcha is about to be killed._


	3. Chapter 3 - Teamwork Isn't Always the Be

_Thanks so much for all the reviews and views! According to the data, The Saiyan's Cascade now has over 1,886 views! Every single view, favorite, review, and watch is the reason we continue to do what we love to do, despite innumerous real-life obligations (and believe us, it's been a real roller coaster as of late)! Like we said before, we're seriously dedicated to presenting a story that's original, fresh, and suspenseful, while maintaining that familiar DBZ feel!_

_Without further ado, we now return to the latest installment of The Saiyan's Cascade!_

_**The Saiyan's Cascade**_

**Saiyan Saga**

Chapter 3: Teamwork Isn't Always the Best Option

* * *

_**Paprika Wasteland, Age 762:**_

Nappa was heaving with rage. These pathetic Earthlings... How could they dare to even _think _of grabbing his tail?! Not even that... They dared to use that human's assault as a chance to perform a sneak attack! That was a slander to his Saiyan honor! Well... it wasn't as if the attack had really _done _anything... Though neither Nappa nor Vegeta would ever admit it, they were truly startled by the ambush; it could have easily succeeded, had the fighters been a bit more powerful. They had even managed to restrain _Vegeta_, albeit only for a moment. Obviously, Saiyan pride dictated that they should not show it, but the two invaders had to vent their emotions somehow. They instinctively redirected their annoyance and anger, using the event as an excuse to express what they were truly feeling.

Vegeta sneered as he entered a fighting position, ready to take on the "legendary" Kakarott, or as his friends preferred to call him, Goku. It was strange; in the span of only a few short months, the renegade seemed to have augmented his power significantly. It wasn't anything that could potentially hurt, of course... but the thought of being so close to defeat, especially at the hands of fighters so weak, haunted his conscious.

"So," the Saiyan Prince snarled. "Do you think you have what it takes to fight against a super elite warrior?"

"Krillin, Chiaotzu, stay out of this," Goku warned, moving his arm backwards to match his verbal actions. "I don't want to see any of you guys get hurt." He didn't mention the horrific vision he'd conjured up. "He's mine to take... alone."

"No Goku," Chiaotzu squeaked. "With you at our side, we have nothing to worry about! We'll take care of him... together."

Krillin, steeled by Chiaotzu's bold exclamation and Goku's presence, nodded fiercely. "He's right, Goku. We're in this 'til the end."

"Fine," Goku growled resignedly, turning to Vegeta. "You want a fight? Grr... Then you GOT ONE!"

The Saiyan raised on Earth charged forward, his fist aimed directly at the invader. Chiaotzu used his telekinesis to freeze Vegeta for a fraction of a second, reducing Vegeta's reaction for the same amount of time.

However, that split-second was all Goku needed to smack Vegeta across the face, sending the latter of the warriors dozens of feet backwards. The Prince flipped and landed on his feet, rubbing his cheek with his forehand to get rid of the small bruise that had formed. From there, Vegeta tightened his fists and clenched his ki to dangerous levels, a violet aura flickering to life as it tore up the blades of grass around it. "You'll pay! No one lays a hand the Prince of All Saiyans and gets away with it! Hyaah!"

The clouds above him began to darken as he swung his arm around, launching a ball of scarlet flame from his hand. The fireball, as dangerous as it was, moved toward the Z-Fighters at an alarmingly fast rate; it could've incinerated the fighters if they weren't cautious enough.

Fortunately though, Goku had anticipated the attack. He raised his arm forward and flicked his hand upwards, dispersing the flame with an invisible kiai wave, leaving behind only a wisp of smoke. The ashes conveniently covered his line of sight, giving Vegeta the opportunity to rush forward and land an uppercut on Goku's chin. The champion of Earth soared into the air and suddenly stopped, levitating effortlessly in place. He peered below, observing the fight between Nappa and the others.

Vegeta summoned an aura of purple energy around him as he jumped off the ground; a faint trail of ki trailed behind as the Saiyan travelled through the air.

"Keep your eye on your own battle!"

The Prince pumped his hand full of energy to fuel his punch. He cocked his arm backwards and steadily approached Goku, who still seemed distracted by the fight below. Vegeta sneered confidently and extended his arm rapidly. But... for some reason, his arm seemed to pass through Kakarott's body. Suddenly, the body fizzled with static, as if he was nothing more than a ghost. A shriek of pain cut through the air below Vegeta, who sharply turned around to investigate its source. He narrowed his eyes and was able to make out a fast-moving orange blur that kept attacking Nappa.

'But... But... How is this possible?!' the Prince internally stammered. 'How did he move so fast? He was just here not even a second ago! Could I have truly underestimated his power by _that _much?'

Vegeta descended a few feet and was able to discern a series of fizzling orange silhouettes that seemed to show his descent. "Ah, I see now..." the former muttered. "The bastard used an afterimage technique. He must have seen me coming and initiated the process long before I had even arrived."

Vegeta maintained his position in the air, and his eyes locked on to the fight. He analyzed for any patterns in Kakarott's movements, carefully formulating a strategy. "Who _knows_ what sort of tricks he may be hiding?" he muttered. "I'd better keep a closer eye on him... "

* * *

_**Moments Earlier, in a separate area of the Battlefield...**_

Piccolo, Tien, and Yamcha gritted their teeth in frustration. They all knew how to sense ki, and the levels they were sensing off the invaders were simply ridiculous! Gohan, being the youngest of the troupe, couldn't help but tremble in fear. His first instinct was to hide under a rock and wait for the whole fiasco to blow over... but he was mature enough to know that the only way to defeat these invaders was through teamwork and coordination.

'My father... Mr. Piccolo...' he thought to himself. 'They're all counting on me! And I can't let them down!' Gohan gripped his fists and surrounded himself in a pale white aura. Spurred onwards by the presence of his master and father, he powered up even further. The ground began to quake and small stones began to levitate in the air. A small crater formed around Gohan's feet, prompting the other warriors to do the same. Piccolo flexed his arms back and raised his power level; Yamcha and Tien followed in unison, their shouts synchronizing perfectly.

Nappa staggered back in awe. Though he didn't have the ability to sense what their actual battle strength was, he could easily guess that they could pose a decent challenge. He tensed his muscles, focusing his Ki in his upper body. The brute instinctively knew that the Earthlings were going to collectively attack his mid-section; he had to focus his power into the blocks and strikes that would be targeted there. An attack to any other area would be nothing more than a minor interference. The veins in Nappa's arms pulsed with blood and ki, preparing for the colossal battle.

Tien thought back to his battle against Goku, years before Gohan's birth. He imagined the young boy, beaming with confidence as he prepared for the fight of his life. Back then, Tien had been a merciless killer, but now, he hoped to channel that same confidence and spirit the young boy had shown him into ultimate victory. Tien's grin mirrored the same expression that his rival had worn during the battle with the Saibamen. 'I guess this is it... It's all or nothing!'

He raised his arms and dashed towards Nappa, striking him point-blank in the face with a powerful punch. The Saiyan brute staggered slightly; seeing this, Piccolo used the distraction to his advantage. The reincarnated Demon King extended his arm, stretching it with his natural abilities to push Nappa further back.

"Gohan, now!" Piccolo shouted. "Attack him!"

"HYAH!" shouted the young child as he chained on to his mentor's attack, firing a furious torrent of small, yellow energy blasts.

"Ergh..." he grunted as the pellets of energy rained across his chest. "I guess I really did underestimate these sniveling punks." The Saiyan brute firmly planted his feet in the ground, swung his arms forwards, and released a wave of invisible energy with a single, thunderous clap. The shockwave released a torrent of winds, which caused the defenders of Earth to step back in fear.

Suddenly, it made contact with one of Earth's heroes.

Gohan's eyes widened as he flew backwards in the vortex that enveloped, helpless to do anything, Seeing that he couldn't do anything under his own power, he began to cry out for Mr. Piccolo or Daddy when—

ZIP! The semi-Saiyan felt his body being whisked away from the swirling twister. He shook his head in disbelief, believing that the orange blur was his father. But instead, it turned out that it was actually…

"Mr. Yamcha! Thanks so much," Gohan mumbled. "I can't believe this guy... He's just way too strong!"

"Yeah..." Yamcha responded with a sneer. "But that's never stopped me before!"

"Uh..." Tien's eyes drooped a little lower as he turned his neck to face Yamcha. "Yes, it has," he replied in a monotonous tone.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" the former bandit shouted back, his head increasing to an absurdly large size.

"Oh, nothing..." Tien whistled innocently. "By the way, how's that leg healing up?"

The scar-faced bandit's eyes narrowed and his head shrunk to normal size. He began mumbling, "Why you little-"

"YAMCHA, LOOK OUT!" screamed a strong, but desperate voice.

BAM! Suddenly, a loud crack resounded throughout the area. An explosion of dust and wind was released from the epicenter of the collision.

Tien and Piccolo turned around, both fearing the absolute worst.

Yamcha sputtered and coughed out of disbelief.

Gohan had been knocked towards the ground out of surprise.

Nappa had somehow ran fast enough to evade the other fighters' senses. He had cocked his arm perfectly for a punch which would have pierced through Yamcha's stomach and killed him instantly...

But instead... Son Goku had reached his friend first. He stood between the Saiyan and the human and had arrived in time to bear the brunt of the blow. Earth's mightiest warrior stared Nappa into his eyes, daring the giant to hit again. Enraged, Nappa removed his fist from Goku's abdomen and flared his aura. He fired several punches, each stronger than the previous, into the same location over and over again. But with each hit, Goku did nothing but flinch slightly at the brute's powerful blows.

"GOD DAMN YOU!" Nappa shrieked. "You're ALWAYS getting in the way! Grr... GAH! GAH! GAH!"

The blows showed no effect on Goku, but the striking power was obvious. Each punch created powerful ripples in the air; some even blew entire mountains apart. But Goku remained resolute; his determination wouldn't falter. As Nappa raised his leg for a roundhouse kick, Goku parried with his left hand, stopping it dead in its tracks.

"My turn," he declared in a soft, but menacing tone. As his words ceased, Goku raised his right hand and pointed it towards the Saiyan general's chest. With a yell, he fired a ball of concentrated energy at point-blank range, sending Nappa skidding against the ground.

However, Goku's assault would prove to be far from over. He teleported below Nappa and executed a fierce upwards chin-kick that sent Nappa howling as he involuntarily flew upwards into the air. The low-class warrior leapt upwards and quickly swung his leg to connect with Nappa's hip, causing him to barrel backwards and be forcibly removed from the wastelands. The invader's body was hurled through the air, and vanished with a twinkle in the sky.

Goku's face suddenly contorted in pain as the full force of Nappa's barrage took hold. 'I guess... I should've raised my power a bit higher,' the Saiyan thought to himself. He turned to Yamcha, a grin of confidence returning. None but Vegeta and Piccolo noticed the hero's minor inconvenience.

"Hey, pal..." Yamcha managed to breathe out. "Th... Thanks for that."

"Yamcha, you gotta be careful!" Goku sternly chided. "Next time, I might not be around, and you could actually die."

"Goku, I could say the same for you too," Piccolo murmured. "You can't keep taking blows for the rest of us. You have your own fight to win, so let us do our part."

"Gotcha," Goku nodded in understanding. "I'll leave you guys to clean up this mess then, hahaha..."

Piccolo nodded and assumed a fighting stance. He focused his ki, splitting it into three different entities within himself. Tien, realizing what his former enemy was about to do, followed suit. After many long grunts and bursts of ki, the two warriors had created three different copies of themselves.

"I guess I don't need to tell you guys the obvious disadvantage of that technique, so I'll head off," Goku laughed raising a thumb behind him. "My buddy's waiting for me up there. You guys have fun!"

The orange-clad Saiyan shot towards the heavens, eager to continue his fight with the prince of his race.

Meanwhile, Piccolo formed an idea of his own, telepathically instructing his two other duplicates to form a line behind him. 'We'll fight and move as one unit,' the Namekian instructed his copies. 'He shouldn't know that we've split apart until it's absolutely necessary. For now, it should look like Tien's the only one who can use the Multi-form technique.'

The three Tiens formed a horizontal line of defense in front of the other warriors, waiting for their opponent to return.

"Hey..." Yamcha started to speak, lifting his chin up. "Why hasn't he shown up yet? You think Goku finished him off?"

"No..." Gohan's high voice interrupted shakily. "I've kept a close eye on him. He's alive, alright..." The demi-Saiyan shuddered horribly as he realized what his energy-sensing abilities were detecting. "Oh no... This is bad..."

* * *

**_Moments earlier, in a distant corner of the Battlefield..._**

A throng of reporters and news stations had gathered around to try and get a glimpse of the fight. So far, they had been able to report nothing more than random explosions, earthquakes, and shockwaves. In the middle of the fight with the Saibamen, the bald brute had destroyed their helicopters, so now they were relying on cameras pointed towards carefully-angled mirrors in the air. Obviously, it was not the most effective strategy, but they had been able to capture short flashes of light, and even the occasional moments of dialogue (though they couldn't hear what was being said).

Reporter Pinky Pale had been making filler postulations as to what could possibly be going on. The viewers of channel ZNN knew better than to believe her crazy stories of flashy lights and earthquakes, but they kept their eyes on the screen regardless. They wanted to see if they would be able to see anything important, if only for a few moments.

"We still don't know much about the battle," Pinky repeated for the umpteenth time. "But this much is... Oh SHIT!"

The camera swung around shakily as its holder focused on a shadow that had somehow destroyed all their equipment. It had appeared out of nowhere, presumably from the mountains. The vans and stands set up by the technical crew were demolished in a fiery explosion. The remaining newscasters huddled around the flames, when suddenly, a smoky foot appeared in sight. The shadow was revealed to be one of the aliens who had single-handedly destroyed East City. Pinky, recognizing the murderer, pointed her microphone and started interrogating him.

"Mr. Alien, sir! A word?" Pale aggressively shoved the cameraman so that he was aiming at Nappa's face. "Could you please tell us a little bit about what's going on the battlefield, please?"

Nappa fully stepped out of the flames and shrugged off the remaining splinters of his armor. His thoughts still dwelled on Kakarott, who had utterly humiliated him. How could that low level trash have destroyed his armor with such a small blast? The damn renegade even had the nerve to take ALL of Nappa's hits without so much as a grunt of pain! The giant fumed and slapped the reporter away with one swing of his arm, snapping her neck instantly.

Suddenly, a fleet of tanks and fighter planes arrived, blasting through the wall of stone in front of Nappa. Apparently, Pinky had thought to press the transponder she had been carrying on her waist right before her failed attempt to interrogate the Saiyan General.

"I don't have TIME FOR THIS SHIT!" he roared, raising his index and middle fingers together. An eruption of blue energy was released from the bowels of the Earth, instantly vaporizing the Earth's combined military force.

"KAKAROTT! You're mine, you SON OF A BITCH!" Nappa shrieked, zipping across the ocean, where he flew through a fleet of naval carrier ships. The raging aura around him simply burned away the pathetic resistance. His armor had been reduced to nothing more than a pair of black underpants, but he didn't seem to really notice the lack of clothing. Only one thought was etched into Nappa's one-track brain:

Revenge...

* * *

**_Back at the Battlefield..._**

Gohan trembled and nearly collapsed to the floor in tears. All those innocent lives... just... gone. Those hardworking men and women had families to take care of; some of them might have even had children as old as—or even worse, _younger than_—him. It wasn't fair! What had they done to bother Nappa, other than stand in his way of fighting? That was it... it was the last straw. He knew he wouldn't be able to make a difference alone, but together, victory could be accomplished...

"Hey... Mr. Piccolo?" Gohan asked shyly, trying to still his fit of anger within his consciousness.

"What do you want now?" the Namekian asked in slight annoyance. This wasn't the time for idle chit-chat; this was the time for battle!

"Just... stay alive, okay?" the student whimpered softly, his human side winning out in the fight for dominance.

Piccolo's face softened, his tension easing slightly. All the kid wanted was reassurance; far be it from the Namekian to offer it to his pupil. "Sure thing, kid..."

Nappa suddenly rushed forward, unprepared for the attack Tien—or rather, _Tiens_—had planned out. They collectively raised their hands to their chins in a triangular formation and yelled just one word: "TRI-BEAM!"

The three squares of destructive energy used Nappa's momentum against him. Since the humans had angled themselves perfectly underneath the brute, they were able to launch him directly up, causing him to stumble in mid-air. Yamcha used this opportunity as a chance to exact his own revenge. He jumped above Nappa, placed his hands to his waist on one side and chorused the incantation.

"KA... ME... HA... ME... HA!" echoed the voice, summoning a blue stream of energy that slammed Nappa right into the ground.

The brute sputtered in the hole in which he had landed. He grumbled, distracted by the chain of attacks. He shot straight up into the air, one fist positioned perfectly to punch the human's chin...

But Nappa could never have predicted Gohan's fiery temper. The young boy's rage had elevated his power to unprecedented levels.

In that instant, the young semi-Saiyan saw it all...

He saw Yamcha's neck snapping backwards. He saw Tien turning around, only to be slaughtered by Nappa's Volcano Explosion attack. He saw the brute turning towards him, ready to fire a deadly blast from his maw. He saw Piccolo jumping in the way to protect his protégé.

Lastly, Gohan saw his own demise at the hands of the mighty Nappa. He wasn't going to let this happen. Not now, not ever! None of his friends deserved to die; he wouldn't just stand by and allow it to happen!

Using his knowledge of physics and trajectory, Gohan perfectly timed the powerful blast that he had formed in his hands.

"MASENKO... HA!" he yelled furiously. A yellow beam fired from his hands and hit Nappa right in the shoulder, spinning him over to the duplicated Piccolos. The copies spiraled around Nappa, giving the illusion that Nappa was simply dizzy. The brutish Saiyan had no time to collect his thoughts; he felt a flurry of blows as he was repeatedly punched from all directions. Nappa collapsed to the floor, his forearms resting on the soft soil and released an explosive wave, scattering the copies away.

Right then, Gohan zipped forward, and kicked him into the sky. He unleashed a powerful barrage of punches and kicks that sent Nappa into the clouds. The semi-Saiyan, with a momentary burst in power, zipped right above his opponent and slammed him to the ground with a powerful punch.

"Wow... Yamcha declared astonishedly, trying to make sense of all that had just occurred. "Gohan gets pretty strong when he's worked up, huh?"

"Yeah..." Tien breathed. "It's kinda scary. I've never even seen _Goku_ get that angry, except when Krillin was killed back at the World Tournament."

"Speaking of Krillin," Yamcha realized. "How do you think he's faring up there? I mean, that Vegeta guy seems a bit stronger than this muscle-head. But from what I'm sensing, I don't even think he's even close to his full power."

"He'll be fine," Piccolo assured. "Goku's with him, and he wouldn't let anyone else get hurt..." the Namekian stilled his mind, but then an excess thought permeated his conscious. "If he could help it, at least..."

* * *

**_Meanwhile, in the skies above the Battlefield..._**

Goku and Vegeta had been fighting a decent battle thus far. Though both warriors knew that the other was holding back, they continued to fight at a leisurely pace. Krillin and Chiaotzu, however, took this fight seriously. To them, this was a chance for them to show off the new techniques and power they had gained over the course of a year. Vegeta had simply parried away their attacks until that point, deflecting their pathetic blows until Kakarott decided to make his own move. He had no real motive to do otherwise.

'Kakarott would just become sloppy if I took these fools out prematurely,'' the prince mentally justified. 'I'll let the pathetic midgets have some fun; but once the stakes are high enough, I'll eliminate them. Kakarott shall have no other choice but to fight at his best then...'

Goku moved back to let Krillin and Chiaotzu have their chance to attack Vegeta once again. Krillin fired a barrage of single-handed punches, but the Prince easily dodged all of them; however, one seemed to simply blow past his defenses. For some reason, he found himself incapable of evading the final attack... Was it because he was too hesitant? No... that could not possibly be it; he had been moving instinctively until then. Unless...

"That son of a bitch!" Vegeta yelled as a revelation shook him. In his anger, he released a minor explosive wave that sent Krillin barreling backwards. The Prince's face contorted in rage and reddened as he realized that Chiaotzu had been paralyzing him for a fraction of a second. Fortunately for the imp, though, Vegeta was feeling generous; he'd grant the pale being a swift death instead of dragging out his pain.

He pivoted on his heel, swinging his arm in an arc to finish off the psychic. Chiaotzu's collar blade would have been shattered, had Goku not intervened with a light ki blast of his own.

The blast, while successful for its purpose, had no other benefit—Vegeta had become even further ticked by the disturbance. "You dare strike me while my back is turned?" Momentarily forgetting about Chiaotzu, Vegeta spun around in anger at the low-class. "You've just granted yourself an instant death!"

"Chiaotzu, Krillin... Stay out of this," Goku declared firmly. "You've had your chance... but the stakes are just too high at this point."

Vegeta, ignoring the low-level clown's statements, zipped forward and landed a hook punch right in the latter's cheek. Goku's eyes narrowed in annoyance as he countered with a double kick of his own. The Saiyan Prince was knocked back a few feet, but he recuperated and regained his balance in the air. With a sneer, he raised both his arms and fired a sudden barrage of energy pellets. Goku, seeing that the blasts could potentially hurt someone, countered with a barrage of his own. The blue ki shots from Goku's side combined with the royal purple blasts from Vegeta's side with explosive bursts.

In the commotion, Chiaotzu and Krillin descended to the ground, where they hoped to assist in the fight against Nappa.

They squinted closely and saw the young Gohan viciously attacking the Saiyan brute. Both of the dwarfs' jaws dropped as they saw a flame in the semi-Saiyan's eyes that they had never seen before.

"Heh... Look at Gohan go," Krillin chuckled good-naturedly. "You think they even need us out there?"

Chiaotzu turned his head to face his friend and donned a serious look. "They might still need our help. Who knows how long Gohan can last in that rage?"

"All right then," Krillin replied, facing his friend. "What do you think we shoul—"

CRACK! A sharp noise resounded through the air where Gohan had slammed Nappa through the floor merely moments before. Chiaotzu's face contorted in fear as he assumed the worst for Tien. Krillin rushed forward to get a closer look at the battlefield, worried for all of his friends...

* * *

**_Meanwhile, above the Battlefield..._**

The two Saiyans had been fighting with extreme force. Though both warriors knew that they were still holding back a large portion of his power, the tenacity with which they had fought could not be rivaled. Goku had finally found the challenge he needed, but he was slowly finding that he was gradually using more and more power with each blow. Vegeta, on the other hand, simply shrugged off the hits and responded with equally powerful strikes, continually raising his power as he saw fit.

Goku brought his leg up and around in preparation for a roundhouse kick, but Vegeta struck him right in the ribcage. The low-level shrugged off the numbing blow and winced as he defended a roundhouse kick from Vegeta.

"Damn..." Goku heaved in his mind. "It's obvious who's the more powerful of us two at this stage... At this rate, I might have to whip out the Kaio-ken technique sooner than I had expected."

Even then, though, the Saiyan could still feel his blood boiling with anticipation of his first true test with his new power. "Hehe... I can't help myself! This fight is just too fun!"

The two warriors wiped the small patches of dirt on their faces and looked each other into their eyes. Both fighters found a sense of enjoyment and shared a small, understanding laugh; it was the first time Vegeta had the chance to evenly fight another Saiyan in a while. Nappa was fun to use as a punching bag, but for the most part, he could never provide a true challenge.

That's when realization dawned on him:

Vegeta had nearly forgotten his true purpose in coming here: immortality. His eyes shifted to Nappa, who had been instructed earlier to leave the Namekian for the end, and suddenly widened.

Goku had also noticed the change in expression on Vegeta's face. He turned his head backwards to get a better view of the giant brute. With a proud smile on his face, the father watched Gohan slam Nappa into the ground, creating a comical, man-shaped indent in the ground.

'I see Piccolo taught him how to control his rage,' Goku analyzed. 'The kid probably gets it from his mother, hahaha.'

Right as Goku turned his attention back to the fight in front of him, a loud CRACK was heard. His demeanor darkened, and he gave Vegeta an understanding nod. The Saiyan raised on Earth zipped away, leaving a trail of blue sparks behind.

* * *

**_Moments Earlier, on the Battlefield..._**

What had transpired right after Gohan had knocked down Nappa occurred too quickly. No one had seen it coming. All the damage, all the pain, all the scars... all in the blink of an eye...

Nappa had quickly shot up to ground level in an explosive burst. He grabbed the exhausted semi-Saiyan by the neck and began squeezing it viciously. Yamcha, however, had anticipated the attack and fired a miniature Sokidan attack. The ex-bandit hadn't been aiming; he just threw it as soon as he saw Nappa's muscular body. The golden sphere drove right into the brute's right eye, knocking his head back in a squirt of blood.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" the Saiyan General shrieked in pain and horror. He flailed his arms, strongly whipping the young hybrid in his hands forward. The limp boy swung towards Yamcha's face like a tennis ball and hit the bandit right in the jaw.

A resounding CRACK echoed across the stadium as the bandit gripped his jaw in silent pain. Gohan was on the floor, passed out from a combination of fatigue and Nappa's death grip.

'What... What the hell?!' Piccolo screamed internally. 'It all just happened so fast... I... I just don't know what to do right now. I've... I've never felt so powerless.' The Namek clones quaked in their boots,

"Watch it!" came a booming voice from the sky above. The defenders of the Earth looked back to see Goku zipping towards them...

But the warning was far too late. Nappa, his vision still partially obscured from the Sokidan attack, viciously grabbed a Piccolo clone's head with his hand. The brute swiftly maneuvered the Namekian's head towards his knee, resulting in a sickening CRUNCH. The indigo-donning fighter's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he collapsed to the ground, all but unconscious. Nappa raised his foot, ready to crush the clone's skull with a menacing sneer. 'This'll teach these punks to mess with me!'

The remaining clones instinctively turned and, upon seeing their fellow clone on the ground, fired a barrage of green ki blasts. The collective force of both Namekians was enough to stagger the brute backwards. Nappa winced as he raised his arms to minimize the damage.

Tien, realizing that remaining split would not be the most effective strategy, combined his clones into one body; he jumped to the Namekian clones' aid and fired a powerful blast right in the General's face. Using the smoke as cover, the three-eyed man jumped and swung his leg for a powerful roundhouse kick.

But the Saiyan brute was too quick; Nappa swung his arm in the same direction, blocking the triclops' strike with one arm. The collision caused an audible CRACK to ring out across the atmosphere; shortly after, the world heard Tien's pain as he clutched his now-broken shin.

"STUPID FOOL!" yelled Nappa, pushing his foe's leg away before throwing a mighty fist forwards. It blew straight past the former World Champion''s non-existent defense and sent him tumbling backwards into the grassy wastelands.

The pain was instantaneous, like a burning sensation. Nappa's bulky arm had fractured the warrior's shin perfectly into two, resulting in a searing flame like no other injury before.

As the Saiyan General loomed over him with a low cackle, Tien was somehow able to spot his allies racing towards the battlefield. Knowing that he barely had the strength to talk (much less move) the human closed his eyes and established a telepathic connection with his friend.

"TIEN!" Chiaotzu gasped upon sensing his friend's pain. The imp grabbed Krillin's arm and dragged him through the air towards Tien's twitching body. "Oh no... TIEN! Don't die!"

"Ch... Chiaotzu..." the warrior panted desperately, his face contorted in pain. "Get me and Yamcha out of the Saiyan's sight. Get the senzu beans... We can't let him... find out..."

Tien's voice faded away as he too lost consciousness due to shock; horrified, Chiaotzu's shoulders drooped in grief. His eyes dilated from absolute fear, uncertain of what was next to come. It seemed as if it'd be all over at this point...

"Look, he's just fine," Krillin comforted, softly patting his friend's back. "We just need to get him out of the way for the time being. We can't let the Saiyans learn about the beans; it could be catastrophic."

Chiatozu gulped and nodded his head, rubbing the tears off his face. "You're right. I think I have a plan. Take care of Tien..."

The pale-skinned child took off towards the small crater where Gohan and Yamcha were writhing in pain. Chiaotzu grabbed the scar-faced bandit's body and dragged it behind a large rock formation. Suddenly, he felt a strange ZING run through his mind. The telekinetic turned his head towards the battlefield and saw Goku facing down the mighty Nappa. With the utmost care, the defender of Earth shook the unconscious clone of his former enemy, waking him softly. The Piccolos grunted in relief and recombined into the original Namekian.

Chiaotzu quickly formulated an idea, the cogs in his head turning quickly. He zipped towards Gohan and violently shook him awake. The semi-Saiyan's eyes fluttered and he grunted as he lifted himself to his feet.

"Gohan, I have a very important job for you!" the telekinetic whispered hurriedly. "We don't have much time, so listen carefully. I need you to go find your dad's Flying Nimbus; it's been flying around, keeping its distance from the battle. Look for the brown bag on it and give whatever's in it to Yamcha and Tien. You can't be seen, got it?"

"Wait, what?" Gohan yawned, still dazed from awakening from unconsciousness. As he was now, the boy wouldn't be able to contribute.

"No time! Go!" Chiaotzu pushed his friend's son quickly out of the way as a pale blue ki ball shot towards them. The blast barely grazed the imp's hands, but the detonation sent him flying backwards. The former crane student caught himself mid-air and flew towards Nappa, ready to make the ultimate sacrifice...

* * *

**_Meanwhile, in the skies above the Battlefield..._**

"Heh..." the Prince of Saiyans mused to himself. "These pathetic creatures don't know when to quit. Can't they see that they're utterly defeated?

As he turned his head towards Nappa, he grimaced in disgust. "What does that idiot think he's doing? Doesn't he realize that Kakarott alone is more than a match for him?"

The Prince levitated a bit closer and noticed the giant's pulsing veins, with a grin he arrogantly proclaimed, "Maybe I'll sit this one out. I think it's time that these weaklings got a taste of Nappa's wrath. Hahaha!"

* * *

**_On the Battlefield..._**

'How could these puny insects cause so much damage?!' the giant brute fumed in his head. 'I am Nappa: General of the Saiyan Army! The only person who's ever defeated me is Prince Vegeta!'

Goku and Piccolo stared down their foe with merciless eyes. The former's jaw twitched aggressively; he wanted to make this monster pay for all that he had done, for all the innocent lives he had destroyed, for crippling his friends. Piccolo, sensing his ally's emotional turbulence, gripped his shoulder.

"Goku, don't do this," he warned sternly. "If you take him on, you'll go over the edge. For Gohan's sake, please..."

Goku closed his eyes tightly, a tear rolling down his cheek softly. "How am I supposed to forgive him? He's caused too much pain. I need to end this before it gets out of hand!"

"That's where I come in," Piccolo grinned. "He'll pay for every drop of blood he's spilt today. Trust me, Goku..."

The tall Saiyan dropped his head slowly and turned his head around. His expression became sullen and his power level receded. He turned to his new friend and patted him on the shoulder, silently wishing him the best of luck. Piccolo nodded his own head, respect and determination filling his heart.

It had taken more than six years, but Goku's call was finally proven right: Piccolo was a soul worth saving.

Suddenly, however, both the warriors saw nothing but blue. The two defenders whipped their heads from side to side... only to see that Nappa had shot into the skies!

"Hehehehehe..." the Saiyan brute chuckled sinisterly. "Are you ladies done yet?" He clenched his right hand into a fist, condensing the energy field around his foes. He quickly extended his index and middle fingers, slowly swirling the ki. Goku's eyes widened as he predicted Nappa's next move. His eyes darted around as malevolent blue energy began to surround them, looking for any way of escape... but there was none.

Growling, Goku crossed his arms, a faint crimson aura beginning to shimmer around his body. A moment later, it surrounded his former rival, who'd taken the opportunity to shield himself by raising his arm towards his cranium.

"TAKE THIS! VOLCANO EXPLOSION!" With a loud cackle, Nappa violently raised his two fingers straight up, detonating the compressed energy with a powerful explosion. Smoke surrounded the area as the mighty attack began to ultimately dissipate; however, though the attack had apparently landed its mark, neither party could see for certain.

'The fool's stupid if he tried to take that head-on,' thought the wounded fighter. 'That attack must've put him away... if not, I'll just have to tear the punk in two.'

He prepared to descend downwards in order to survey the carnage, when suddenly...

ZZZZING!

Suddenly, the Saiyan warrior felt a powerful electric sensation climbing up his spine. He grunted and tried to move his arms, but for some reason... he could not. Nappa turned his head slightly and was able to discern the diminutive shape of... Chiaotzu!

Capitalizing on his golden opportunity, the imp jumped onto the giant's back and consolidated whatever energy remained in his body. His body started to glow a mystical shade of blue, his eyes welling with tears. 'Tien, Goku... Everyone... I'm sorry it had to end this way. I can only hope that this ends all the pain and suffering. Good bye...

"Chiaotzu!" screamed a voice that cut through the air. However, it was not Tien, as everyone had expected it would be. Rather, it was... Goku?!

The Saiyan raised on Earth dashed upwards with a mighty shout and decked Nappa across the jaw with a furious roundhouse punch; the collision caused the brute to involuntarily rocket upwards into the air.

However, Goku knew that all hadn't been saved. Chiaotzu was still in danger of dying. He couldn't allow that to happen; not now, not after he'd just barely been able to save Yamcha and the others. He didn't know if he'd be able to take the loss...

"KAIO-KEN!" shouted Earth's hero as he became illuminated in a flare of magma-red light. Using this energy to power his body, Goku zipped upwards and spun around the brute's shoulders to snatch Chiaotzu off of his back. Then, using his positioning to his advantage, Goku lifted his legs upwards to send Nappa even higher into the atmosphere.

Noticing that he was no longer on the calloused Saiyan's bare back, Chiaotzu powered down his body to find Goku staring at him with a combination of anger and sadness.

"Why did you even _think _of doing that?!" the planet's hero cried. "We had everything under control! What good do you think you would have done if you had killed yourself?"

Chiaotzu looked down and sobbed vehemently . "I... I don't know. I thought that I could finish him off, once and for all."

"No..." Goku shook his head in disappointment. "It wouldn't have worked. He would've defended from it just in time." In his mind's eye, Goku envisioned a different future. He saw Chiaotzu's glowing blue body shatter into millions of indiscernible pieces; he saw Tien's face contorted in grief and guilt; and he saw his own face, ashen at the fact that the death could have been prevented...

"I'm really sorry, Goku." the imp whimpered. "I just thought I was doing the right thing..."

"It's okay, Chiaotzu." Goku turned his gaze to the sky. "But it wouldn't have been enough to win." The battle had gone on for too long, far too long. Two of his friends had nearly perished due to his inability to end Nappa where he stood.

He promised himself that it'd end right here, right now.

"I'M GETTING TIRED OF THIS! THERE'S BEEN TOO MANY CHEAP SHOTS!" bellowed a gruff voice from the air above.

Looking towards the sky, Son Goku saw an enraged Nappa racing toward him like a meteor from the sky. Bracing himself by summoning his Kaio-ken aura, he jumped upwards, filling himself with adrenaline as he arced through the air with his own mighty shout.

THUUUM! Their fists collided, causing Nappa's knuckles to break on contact with his foe's red-tinted arm. From there, the brute let out a howling shriek of pain as he tried throwing his other arm towards Goku in a reckless manner, though it didn't seem to do much more than cause him to tilt his head to the side before he planted a well-aimed knee into the former general's stomach.

"GAH!" screeched Nappa, bending downwards to try and null the aching feeling in his stomach. "Y-You hurt me... t-that's no-not supposed to happen..." Even though he'd suffered pain from the Earth-raised Saiyan before, the massive brute was attempting to psych himself up with Saiyan pride. "THAT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!"

"You can try and fight back all you want..." replied Goku, his voice dangerously low, as if it were a volcano slowly building up to eruption. "But I've given you TOO MANY WARNINGS! TOO MANY CHANCES TO TURN BACK!"

With another cry, Goku rushed forward and elbowed Nappa on his foramen magnum, causing the brute to shriek in pain. From there, he vanished from sight for a brief moment before reappearing behind his foe and swung his leg downwards on the back of Nappa's skull, sending the aforementioned fighter spiraling down towards the ground with a howl of pain.

"NO MORE! NO MORE!" Kakarott gritted repeatedly. He grabbed Nappa by the head, gripping it so tightly that the skull began to crush slowly. Fire raged within the warrior's eyes as he prepared to avenge his friends. With one hand holding the skull, Goku used the other to repeatedly punch his opponent the stomach. With each blow, a cry of 'NO MORE' could be heard, suddenly drowned out by the sound of Nappa's cries of pain and agony...

Goku suddenly blinked rapidly, dropping the Kaio-ken aura and realizing that he had almost been pushed over the edge. His eyes softened slightly; no longer did flames of hatred rage behind those irises. Goku took a deep breath and dropped the Saiyan brute. The former rose into the air and filled his heart with rightful vengeance, rather than malice. He grunted softly and raised his power with the North Kai's signature technique.

"Now..." came the soft, but threatening cry of the red-tinted fighter. "You won't hurt anyone anymore..." Goku charged a sphere of azure-colored energy in his left palm, which he then fired onto the massive warrior's armored back.

The effects were instantaneous.

Nappa began to scream in absolute agony as his body was decomposed by the energy sphere, unable to do anything but watch in horror as the blast incinerated him.

In that moment, no emotions could be felt. No words could be spoken. It was simply a matter of life and death, and, in this particular case, it was time for Nappa's stay in the mortal world to cease.

A moment later, nothing but winds could be felt blowing through the atmosphere. Nappa's absurdly large power level had faded from everyone's sensing ability, causing Goku to let out a well-deserved sigh of relief. 'It's over...'

Contrary to Goku's thoughts, the battle had all but begun. Vegeta, the Saiyan Prince, had just witnessed the cascade of events one by one, ranging from the humans' feeble attempts against Nappa to said fighter's demise.

Contrary to what one might have thought, he didn't watch the battle with any form of distaste or anger. As a matter of fact, the prince's mien didn't show even the slightest of any emotion.

Plastered across Vegeta's face was nothing more than a malicious smirk.

"Impressive, Kakarott..." commented the flame-haired warrior as he slowly levitated upwards to meet his fellow Saiyan in the air. "You've destroyed Nappa with ease; the damn oaf doesn't even have a carcass to bury. Normally, such an act would earn you an early grave."

He paused to cross his arms. "But... there's been a... _downsizing _in allies recently. With power that easily ripped Nappa to shreds, you could go far - not to mention, you'd be serving your race properly."

The hero's eyes narrowed with skepticism; just what was he saying? Surely, he couldn't have been aiming for the same goal as Raditz had...

Vegeta extended his hand outwards, his face turning serious in a heartbeat. "Join me, Kakarott. Together, you and I will demonstrate to this universe what it means to be a true Saiyan."

Seeing that Kakarott was hesitating, Vegeta felt his words at an impasse. He saw it fit to sweeten the deal somewhat - or, at least, as much as his pride would allow. "I'm not entirely heartless, you know. You can take your sniveling brat with us. With the right training, he could become just as powerful as you or I."

"What about my friends?" asked the Earth-raised Saiyan, his expression becoming completely stoic. It seemed as if he was genuinely mulling over the prospect of joining the prince.

"They would perish, along with the rest of these feeble humans! We, Kakarott, as true warriors, do not allow weaklings to associate with us! We are of a higher breed! A higher standard!" A wild grin spread across Vegeta's face, almost like if he were a priest attempting to explain his religion. "I give you this one last chance, Kakarott. You've more than proven your worth by killing Raditz and Nappa; you've proven yourself worthy to be my comrade. What do you say?"

Normally, Goku would have immediately rejected the offer. Betray his friends? No way... that would never happen, not in a million years! But something nagged the Saiyan's mind. He let out a soft whimper of doubt, which caused Vegeta to grin victoriously.

"I can see the doubt in your eyes, Kakarott," the Prince of Saiyans spoke tantalizingly. "Think about it... Do you remember the fire in your eyes when you held Nappa's helpless skull in your hands? Do you remember the great satisfaction you felt with every punch? You were _born_ to be a warrior, Kakarott. Now fulfill your destiny at my side..."

"No..." Goku shook his head, sweat pouring down his face in beads. "You're wrong! I'm nothing like you! I... I didn't give in to my anger! I'm not like you..."

"But you _can _be like me," Vegeta prodded onwards, still awestruck by the ruthless performance he had seen earlier. "All you need is a push in the right direction, Kakarott. You're almost there."

"You can't be serious?!" Piccolo exclaimed frantically, reminded of a similar situation when they had fought against Raditz. "Goku, don't you _dare_ even..."

Goku's mind was stilled, frozen with an internal struggle. On one hand was his loyalty to his friends and family; on the other hand, his Saiyan mind, buried deep within his consciousness, was stimulated by the rage he had displayed against Nappa. Each thought of benevolence was canceled out by one of malevolence, both resolves being truly equal. Each perspective was simply waiting for his response.

The time had come. Goku, sweating beads, opened his jaw - yet no words came out; he was truly that frightened. He tried again, still as uncertain as before. The Saiyan defender's head drooped in defeat and resignation.

"I... I'm sorry..."

* * *

_Will Goku give in to his Saiyan instincts and join the Prince on his conquest? Or will he fight to protect his adopted planet? How will his fight against Nappa and Vegeta affect the outcome? Find out next time, on Dragon Ball: The Saiyan's Cascade!_

* * *

**_Once again, we profusely apologize for the wait! Both of us are extremely busy people(as stated about 9,001 times already) but we've worked extremely hard to churn out this update when we did._**

**_We hope you didn't find the Nappa battle to be rushed by any means necessary. We were a bit uncertain about whether it was too much to finish him off in one chapter, but we decided to go through with it anyway. Please, let us know what you think in your reviews!_**

**_In the last scene, when Vegeta makes his offer to Goku, we want to explicitly state that this was NOT an error. We were writing from Vegeta's perspective, so we saw it fit to call him Kakarott there._**

**_Also, we wanted to let you all know that the two of us are in fairly close contact. We chat quite frequently, and so most of the story has already been set in stone. This was mentioned to explain that we have a very precise direction of where to go with this story, and that it won't be going on a hiatus due to lack of ideas or anything. Believe us, if we go on an announced hiatus, it's definitely due to time constraints._**

**_Lastly, we'd like to give a special mention to the "Dragon Ball Multiverse 2 Project." If you didn't know, fans of DBM who've written their own fanfictions have collaborated in order to host a multiverse tournament in a fashion similar to DBM (the original inspiration for the project). This story, along with one of Rott's other fics (_****_Guardian) _****_will be featured in the project. While it's not likely to appear for a while, stay on the lookout!_**

**_Finally, awesome readers, allow us to answer some questions..._**

* * *

_Q: Wow, Chaiotzu managed to restrain Vegeta, albeit with him off guard and only temporarily. Still, does that foreshadow a greater role for him in terms of psychic abilities even if he later proves to struggle with keeping up in terms of physical power? After all, paralysis would be an excellent support ability from a distance._

_A: Very interesting idea. We all know that Chiaotzu proved incapable of keeping up with the humans during training, but paralysis would certainly help him out- we imagine that's why Guldo served a purpose to the Ginyu Force. Rott's a firm believer in Guldo's psychic powers being the only real thing that could possibly pose a threat to Gohan and Krillin at that point in time._

_Q: What exactly does Son Kun mean?_

_A: Well, "Son" is Goku's surname, while "Kun" is used to treat someone with endearing respect. So "Son-Kun" would mean that someone is addressing Goku by his last name (which is usually a sign of respect) and "Kun" would mean "with brotherly respect." We only see Bulma call this to Goku because of their close friendship._

_Q: My god, could it be? The rare fanfic that DOESN'T shit on Yamcha and actually gives him a chance to shine? I mean, I've heard about such things in myth but I didn't think I would actually live to see it with my own two eyes._

_A: Hah, thanks. We both agree that while Yamcha does deserve some of the stuff he gets, he also deserved at least one good moment._

_Q: Chioautzu's mind control was never that strong to be able to keep in place someone 18 timmes more powerful than him._

_Q: Chiaotzu would have no chance in a million years to be able to paralyze Vegeta win his powers. I think he even tried it on Nappa in canon to no avail, so I'm not sure what the reasoning was behind that._

_A: You'd be correct, but Chiaotzu wasn't really trying to restrain-more like distract. He did the same thing in this chapter, too. Also, keep in mind that in this story, Goku's presence makes all the difference. If you remember from canon, Goku always had this "aura" that made everyone more confident and more willing to go all-out. In a similar sense, Chiaotzu has been empowered by the presence of his friend. And remember, Chiaotzu never actually stopped anyone. He's only able to pause them for half a second, and in this chapter, his desperation empowered him enough to freeze Nappa for just enough time._

_Q: The whole tail bit seemed overdone. When they did it in canon, Nappa and Vegeta just smiled and explained they had trained the weakness, not really going into a shpeel about honor._

_A: An excellent point. However, keep in mind that Vegeta and Nappa are PROUD saiyan warriors. Both of them were truly startled by the ambush attack, and due to their pride, they didn't want to show it. As a result, they instinctively redirected their annoyance/anger and used the "grabbing the tail" event as an excuse to express their true emotions. _

_Q: I've been seeing collaboration fics pretty often now(Honor Trip, Bringer of Death, this, etc.) and I wanted to know: how do you guys work as a team?_

_A: While we can't speak for Honor Trip or Bringer of Death, the work of The Saiyan's Cascade is honestly just about equally divided between Original and Rott. Judging from these three chapters, Original has written more, while Rott's contributions have been mainly geared towards editing TSC. However, as summer approaches, the both of us will have a lot more time to work on this fanfic and hopefully release quicker (but no less entertaining!) chapters._


	4. Chapter 4 - Battle of Pride

_In the last month or so, the view count for TSC has spiked enormously! The data says that we have a total of 3,432 views! Holy crap, that's awesome! Thanks so much to everyone for checking out our story! We hope that you guys can appreciate the unique and interesting (in our eyes, anyways) direction that we'll be taking the story. We now return you to your somewhat-regularly scheduled program!_

**The Saiyan's Cascade**

**_Saiyan Saga_**

Chapter 4: Battle of Pride

* * *

**_Paprika Wasteland, Age 762:_**

The sensation was intoxicating. The long-forgotten Saiyan mentality had begun to permeate within Goku's consciousness, causing his thoughts to go completely out of whack. His mind was no longer rational; it was a distortion of what it once was. Vegeta's manipulative words were awakening the primal side of Earth's champion – even worse, these thoughts were _affecting _his mindset. Had Kakarott, the long-forgotten Saiyan child who had crash-landed on Earth three decades ago, finally re-emerged?

On the other side of the spectrum was the one star that never faded, even in the most bleak of situations. Son Goku, defender of the Earth for nearly his entire life, refused to give into this monster's demands. It may have been by chance that the pure-hearted soul known as Goku was born, but it was a chance that had saved the Earth from some of its most powerful threats. That strength was needed yet again in order to fight Vegeta - but could he draw upon it?

On the other hand, if he accepted the vile Prince's offer, he would stand a better chance of convincing Vegeta to spare the Earth. Goku's mind became jumbled mess of thoughts and contradicting ideologies. He shook his head vigorously, trying to regain his senses once more.

Goku closed his eyes and drowned out the Prince's honeyed words. He remembered the lessons that Grandpa Gohan had taught him, all those years ago. He remembered the fond memories with Krillin, when they had trained together with Master Roshi. He remembered how, as a young boy, he had given Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, and even Piccolo a chance for redemption.

Suddenly, Goku's heart filled with strength and determination. The Saiyan raised on Earth narrowed his eyes and grinned proudly, as he had done all those times in the past.

"You're wrong, Vegeta." Confidence surged in his voice once more; each word sounded more and more like the Goku everyone had come to love and respect. "I'm not like you... I'm not a ruthless killer, despite what you may think. I stopped myself from going over the edge. I saved my friends when they were in danger. Nappa deserved his fate, in the end... and so will you. You came to _my _home; you threatened _my _people, and, for that, you _will_ pay. I'll give you one final chance to turn around and go back to wherever you came from! For your sake and for the sake of this planet... please... go home."

"Heh, I suppose I was wrong about you." Vegeta coughed, his grin fading into a scowl of disgust. "You're no warrior... You're nothing but a sentimental fool. If that's the way you want it, then fine! You can die with your pathetic planet!"

"HEY!" A collective voice called out from behind the group of warriors. Goku and Piccolo turned to find Yamcha and Tien perfectly healed! The two human warriors, followed closely by Gohan, zipped towards their friend. "If you wanna take out our planet, you gotta go through us!"

Chiaotzu and Gohan shared a quick laugh together, happy to see that the plan had succeeded. Now, the Saiyan would be child's play; the peace and tranquility that the Earth had known before Raditz's arrival would be restored within the hour.

When they looked to Goku, for some inexplicable reason, they noticed that the Earth-raised Saiyan had become pallid in fear.

"G... Gohan?" He asked shakily, not wanting to believe what his mind was telling him. "Exactly how many senzu beans did you give Tien and Yamcha?"

"Well, I saw two in there!" Gohan beamed happily, glad that there was a new hope for the battle ahead.. "So I gave 'em one each! Why?"

Piccolo's jaw slackened as the realization dawned upon him. "Oh, no... This can't be happening..."

Goku's face became grim. 'Dammit!' he thought to himself. 'I've lost too much power at this point! I've been keeping my power level relatively low so that Vegeta wouldn't be able to find out how powerful I really was.. not to mention the fact that I've also been sustaining the Kaioken for long periods of time!' He knew he hadn't come close to perfecting the illustrious technique of the Kais; unfortunately, the technique still caused him strain. He hadn't wanted to chance anything until Nappa had been subdued - but his plan had completely backfired.

"What's wrong, Kakarott?" Vegeta sneered, crossing his arms in a haughty manner. "What happened to all that bravado just now?"

"I guess this is it," Son Goku managed to say, a weak grin forming on his face. It was now or never; there was no hesitation to be found on the Saiyan's mien. His gamble may not have paid off, but he wasn't about to give in just yet - not when there was still a chance of hope. "Vegeta, you're going to pay for your crimes!"

"Hehehe... That's the spirit!" Vegeta taunted, confident that victory was imminent. He landed on the ground with a small _TAC_, and pointed his right index finger at his opponent, beckoning his foe to re-engage him in battle."I know you've already lost a lot of power from our fight and your little... incident with Nappa. Do you truly think you, a low-level piece of trash, still have what it takes to fight a Super Elite, the most powerful warrior of the Saiyan race? You'd have to be at maximum power to even _consider _taking on royalty like me!"

Goku knew deep down that he was far too weak to take on the prince on his own. But he had no choice. He _had _to try... If not for Gohan, then for the entire planet!

'Gohan...' the thought of his half-breed son warmed Goku's soft heart. 'He's grown up so fast... Just look at him now, taking on beings more than five times his own strength! Wow... just wow! When I was his age, I couldn't even _dream _of a fight at this level. I'm so proud...'

The Saiyan defender swallowed away his fear, and looked dead into his opponent's eyes. He felt the presence of his friends and allies behind him, fully supporting him and strengthening his resolve. His irises flashed with a newfound determination, ready to start the raging battle anew.

"Let's take this battle somewhere else," the Prince announced, unnerved by the confidence in Kakarott's eyes. He feigned another sneer to intimidate his foe once more. "It's getting a bit... corpse-y over here, hehehe. I wonder whose fault that is."

Goku nodded solemnly, choosing not to speak for fear of tipping off the prince's wrath. "Lead the way," he responded with a grunt.

Vegeta flexed his legs and jumped straight into the skies, flaring his violet aura and leaving a trail of purple sparks behind. His opponent grunted and followed the trail with a bright blue arc of light, wondering how he could possibly win with such a disadvantage...

"Gohan, Tien, Yamcha!" Piccolo barked, formulating a strategy. "I need you to come with me! Goku's in much worse shape than he looks, and he's going to need all the help he can get!"

"Hey!" Krillin whinnied, annoyed that he was being treated like he wasn't of any significance. "What about me and Chiaotzu? We can help too!"

"Oh, don't worry," the Namekian sneered sinisterly. "I have just the plan for you two..."

* * *

**_Gizard Wasteland, A Few Minutes Later..._**

TAC. Goku's navy-blue boots made contact with the surface of the mountainous area. Vegeta landed on a small bluff above, looming over the Earth-raised Saiyan.

"Last chance, Kakarott," the Prince of Saiyans taunted arrogantly. "You can leave this pathetic planet behind and reach your full potential as a Saiyan... Only say the word, and the two of us will rise to power as the strongest Saiyans in existence."

Goku brushed aside the Prince's words and offered an ultimatum of his own. "This is your last chance too, Vegeta. Only say the word and I'll let you leave this planet peacefully. No one else needs to die today... not even you." Neither had the goal of killing each other; both wanted the other to do so much more, yet the other pushed back with equal force. It was an absolute standstill. "Please... understand that I don't want to kill you. Your friend was the one who nearly slaughtered all of my friends; he got what he deserved. You, on the other hand, you could be different. There's still a chance for you to leave peacefully... please, just take it."

Briefly... Just briefly, Vegeta considered the Saiyan renegade's offer. 'What was the point in meaningless bloodshed?' the logical, more empathetic, side of his mind reasoned. Perhaps, if Vegeta complied with Kakarott's plea, he would be open to helping him overthrow _him..._

But the Saiyan side immediately took over. The prince's blood boiled with excitement at the prospect of such an interesting fight. Vegeta's mind mulled over the prospect of ripping his opponent's heart and crushing it in his bare hands. The thrill of the hunt, the excitement of victory... it was just overwhelming! He knew immediately that this fight _had_ to happen, regardless of the cost! Forget Kakarott; this needed to be done! For _him! His _pride!

"You think that I, the Prince of all Saiyans, would turn my back on a fight?" Vegeta roared, as if the answer was blatantly obvious. "You've taken me for a coward, Kakarott! And now... for your insolence, you will pay with your life!"

Goku shrugged his shoulders resignedly. He had known that Vegeta was going to decline his offer; all his opponents did. But there was something he saw in the prince's eyes, if only for a millisecond. Vegeta was not a slave to his animalistic instincts, that much was certain... but Goku could sense something _more _within the prince**—**for lack of a better term, reason.

'Maybe it isn't too late to save him from this dark road,' he internally reasoned. 'I mean, I was destined to destroy the Earth, wasn't I? Who's to say that one day, Vegeta wouldn't do the same? I guess all Saiyans have the same potential to feel human emotions.'

The Saiyan raised on Earth bravely waved his arm and fired a silent kiai wave to the side, causing a boulder to break off a mountain. Vegeta caught his opponent's gaze and immediately understood what was happening. He gathered his ki and prepared for the attack. Across from him, Kakarott seemed to be doing the same; his body began to glow with a slight white haze as energy accumulated within his being.

With a loud CRASH, the boulder hit the ground and shattered into smaller pieces. That instant, both Saiyans pounced towards each other with a ZIP and clashed their fists. A loud BOOM echoed across the plains, and shockwaves shook the ground.

Goku grunted and used the momentum of his own punch to flip over the prince and slam him into a cliff with a powerful double-kick. However, Vegeta was an expert in fighting techniques; he stopped himself mid-air and turned to fire a barrage of ki blasts, knowing full well what his opponent would do in response.

The sheer multitude of ki bullets overwhelmed the Earth-raised Saiyan, who crossed his arms in front of him and squinted to avoid the full brunt of the attack. In that moment's distraction, Vegeta jumped higher and brandished his arm horizontally. From his hand, a large fireball appeared and shot straight towards his opponent. The attack flickered angrily between the violent colors of red, orange, and yellow as it soared through the air.

Goku's eyes widened in shock at the sight of the fireball. He immediately countered with an azure ki ball of his own, aiming it at an angle which would redirect the blast to the skies. With a twinkle, the two orbs of ki fizzled in the air and vanished from sight. Not wanting to be caught off-guard again, Goku fired a barrage of blows into the air; the pressure formed from these powerful attacks compressed into a powerful barrage of air blasts. As the unique manipulation of ki came in contact with Vegeta, he had no choice but to recoil and hiss in pain.

This, in turn, allowed the spiky-haired hero his golden opportunity. He immediately closed the distance between himself and Vegeta, connecting with a firm blow to the torso. As Vegeta doubled over, Goku quickly dislodged his fist from the prince's abdomen and elbowed him towards the ground before darting down in pursuit of his mighty foe.

Seeing that he was to collide with the ground should he not take evasive action, Vegeta banked off the ground; however, he used his grip on the rocky ground to perform a backflip, regaining his distance. Goku, in turn, was forced to shift his body, swerving dangerously close to the ground in order to keep up with his foe.

Vegeta's reflexes, however, enabled him to catch the punch with his left hand. He smirked at his foe, daring him to attack once more. Goku took that dare; he tried to free himself with a blow from his left hand, but that, too was caught by the Prince. The latter used the opportunity to ram his forehead onto his opponent's nose, causing a loud CRACK to resound through the air as Goku's head snapped back in pain.

The Earth-raised then lifted his knees to his chest and straightened them, kicking Vegeta straight in the stomach. Subsequently, the prince loosened his grip on Goku's hands and was launched back into a pile of rubble with a sudden CRASH. Fortunately, his Saiyan armor absorbed the majority of the impact, though a crack had formed on the breastplate as a result.

Vegeta lifted himself off the ground and irritatedly brushed the dust off of his torso and sleeves. Goku levitated in the air, arms at his side as he stared down the Prince of All Saiyans. The latter currently had his arms folded over his royal armor, a scowl plastered over his features.

"Seems you aren't all bark and no bite, Kakarott..." he admitted grudgingly. "You and the other Earthlings have proven to be a bigger challenge than we expected..."

To that, the Saiyan Protector could not help but lightly smirk. "I may not be a mindless purger like you, but I'm a Saiyan as well! My friends and I pushed ourselves to break through every limit possible in order to beat you! Even a reject can surpass an elite**—**if he works hard enough."

The flame-haired Saiyan spat at the claim Kakarott made. How _dare _he insult an elite, much less the Prince? Saiyan law would dictate that he slaughter the poor fool who made such an error, and Vegeta was not keen in forgetting that law any time soon. "I suppose that's it for the warm-up, then. Now let me show you a power that no amount of training could ever prepare you for..."

"Oh, boy..." Goku chuckled softly to himself, wiping his brow as he reentered his fighting stance. "Just the warm-up..."

Both fighters dashed forward, auras flaring wildly as they collided once again; the impact caused reverberating turbulence in the atmosphere.

THUUUM! Goku threw a perfectly-calculated punch that forced Vegeta's head to snap to the side.

BRRRRGGGH! Vegeta retaliated with an audible chop that sent Goku spiraling to the elite's left flank. Moments later, the two regained their balance and re-engaged in battle, cascading auras of blue and violet coloration darting all around the battlefield.

Unfortunately for the Earth-raised Saiyan, Vegeta was much more powerful than he expected, which caused him to suffer a repeated barrage of blows to the stomach, then a swift kick to the ribcage.

Goku found his stomach beginning to pound heavily from the intensity of the blow, his head beginning to droop down in exhaustion, though Vegeta would have none of it. The prince lifted his knee to shoot the low-class's head upwards, before capitalizing with a direct punch to the Saiyan's mouth, causing the fighter donned in orange to drift backwards.

"Hahaha!" The elite grinned smugly. "You thought you stood a chance? How amusing..." he lifted his palm, charging a crimson sphere of energy while winding his palm backwards. "Be gone, Kakarott!"

WWHHHOOOOSH! The blast of a burning aura rocketed towards Goku, who had to raise his arms in order to block it. Vegeta's attack made contact with the Saiyan's arms, beginning to sear his flesh. Goku, however, remained determined in his cause and began to power up, his azure aura slowly beginning to encase his body. "It... can't... end here..."

From below, the champion of Earth could hear his fellow fighters cheer him on.

"Come on, Goku!"

"You can do it!"

"You can win, Daddy!"

Spurred on by their encouragement, Goku closed his eyes and began to tremble with determination and fury. "You hear them, don't you? My friends... my son... they're all depending on me to win here..." wisps of a scarlet hue began to form on Goku's figure, "AND I WON'T FAIL THEM! HYAAAH!"

The aura of the legendary Kaio-ken technique ignited to life around Goku's body, and with relative ease, he threw the fireball into the air and dissipated it with a small magma-colored blast of his own.

Needless to say, the Saiyan blood coursing through Vegeta's veins began pumping with intense vigor at the prospect of fighting Goku at his maximum power. "You've finally decided to reveal your true colors, Kakarott... I'll enjoy beating you to nothingness!" His purple aura roared to life as he sped towards Goku with a horrifying and sadistic laugh.

Goku's pulsing aura seemed to intensify as he saw Vegeta dash towards him, cocking his right arm backwards as he raced towards the Prince with a battle cry.

With these shouts of equal excitement and anticipation, the ultimate battle for Earth's fate had finally commenced...

* * *

**_Gizard Wasteland, Minutes Earlier..._**

Piccolo, Tien, Gohan, and Yamcha had just arrived on the outskirts of the battlefield; by the time they stepped foot on the rocky ground, the two Saiyans had already begun their colossal fight. Krillin and Chiaotzu followed closely behind, but were suddenly pushed back due to the powerful shockwaves caused by the fight.

Immediately, the Namekian analyzed the situation at hand. It was obvious that Goku was nowhere near his full strength when the fight had started. Already, their greatest hope was at a disadvantage. The Namekian called over his allies and recalled his own fight against Goku years ago. He remembered how the Saiyan defender would suddenly to get back on his feet when he was encouraged by his friends. In Goku's case, morale was everything.

"Gohan, Yamcha, and Tien," the green alien ordered. "I need you three to form a perimeter around the fight. Every time Goku is knocked down, you have to encourage him to get back up and fight for justice or some crap like that. He's already in emotional turmoil, especially after what he did to Nappa, so make sure he feels like himself. Oddly enough, it's his greatest strength."

Tien nodded in agreement. "Goku's will has always been the deciding factor in the battles he's been in. Don't worry, Piccolo. You can count on us!" He encouraged Yamcha and Gohan to follow after him with a quick nod and zipped towards the battlefield.

Suddenly, Krillin and Chiaotzu landed with a THUD next to Piccolo. The bald student of Master Roshi shakily got back on his legs and wheezed, "We could've done that, too!" he argued weakly. "Why did you have to send them?"

"Look at you two," Piccolo scoffed. "You're in no shape to _breathe_, let alone talk. Besides, I told you already: just stick to the plan and we'll be set."

"Why aren't you *cough* going out there?" muttered Chiaotzu as he wiped the sweat and grime off his forehead. "Why aren't you over there protecting Tien?"

"Tien Shinhan can take care of himself," the Namekian scowled in annoyance. "Thanks to you, he and Yamcha are both at full power. I'm more worried for Gohan, though..." The warrior's proud green brow furrowed in anxiety.

Krillin's smiled upon observing Piccolo's softness. 'Well, I guess Goku did the right thing by keeping him alive,' he assured himself. 'Who would've thought? The great Demon King Piccolo... worried for some kid. Turns out, the kid's none other than the son of his arch-nemesis! Now _that's_ what I call a twist, haha.'

The three remaining warriors then sat into meditative position, keeping their minds locked on the battle. They all knew the plan. And when the time came, they would be ready to strike.

* * *

**_Back at the Battlefield..._**

Even against the first level of Kaio-ken, Vegeta still maintained a solid defense. Every single punch thrown by Kakarott was blocked, and every kick was brushed to the side. Vegeta smirked, knowing full-well that victory was all but achieved.

"Give up the charade, Kakarott," the Prince taunted as he parried a hook punch with a casual sweep of his hand. "You never even stood a chance against me! Yield, and I will make your death painless... or, of course, you can accept my offer."

Goku suddenly jumped backwards, increasing the distance between him and his foe. He bucked forward and heavily gasped for breath, desperately filling his lungs with the oxygen and devising a plan. King Kai's technique had a significant drawback: if used in excess, it could severely damage or even obliterate the user's body!

The Saiyan from Earth swallowed a heavy lump in his throat and steadily increased his power once more. He knew from his training with King Kai that the Kaio-ken was never intended to be used for sustained periods of time. But he had no choice! Vegeta was easily outclassing him in all aspects of the fight: speed, technique, focus, power. The list simply did not end!

"Damn it," Goku muttered. "If this keeps up, I might just have to push it until my body can't take anymore. It's a shame, haha... I just might die in this fight, and next time... I won't come ba-"

BAM! Vegeta had zipped forward and landed a powerful blow to his opponent's stomach. Goku widened his eyes as he was caught mid-sentence, caught entirely off-guard. The punch caused the Saiyan protector to buck forward and collapse to his knees. With a disgusting wretch, Goku coughed out a glob of blood that had been choking his lungs. He heaved violently, desperately, trying to catch the wind that had been knocked out of him. Goku pushed himself back onto his feet and staggered. He knew right then that there was no chance of victory. Vegeta had barely even lost a drop, and already Goku was coughing up blood.

"Rrgh..." Vegeta growled, irritated with the challenge**—**or lack thereof**—**his foe presented. "How dare you! Honor your prince! Give me a real fight! Show me your power!" He accentuated his last few words with a cross-kick that belted Goku backwards, sending him barreling backwards. Goku conducted a back-flip in mid-air, landing on his feet, groggy and dazed.

The Prince of Saiyans angrily rushed towards his opponent and pushed him to the ground. The hero of Earth fell backwards, unable to move a single muscle. He was vulnerable, exposed, and out of options. Vegeta scowled once more and fired a barrage of purple energy bullets towards the prone Saiyan, who was pushed further into the ground due to the force.

When the smoke cleared, naught remained of Kakarott's shirt, save for a few burnt-orange scraps. Goku's exposed torso was rising up and down heavily, desperately trying to let in as much oxygen as possible. The hero of Earth struggled to rise to his feet, a look of defeat etched across his face.

"This... It's..." Goku shook his head as struggled to formulate a cohesive sentence while gasping for air. "It's too much!"

"You pathetic fool!" Vegeta scowled once more, dashing up to the Earth-raised Saiyan and brutally backhanding him across the face; the impact sent Goku tumbling to the right. "A true Saiyan wouldn't give up until they _couldn't _move themselves any longer!"

Goku tried to stand, curling his right knee inward, fighting for the will to continue their battle... but he was just far too weak. There was no hope, no chance... Vegeta had truly won.

The Prince of Saiyans saw the candle of hope in his opponent's eyes wink out. He knew that, at long last, after Kakarott's feeble struggles had ceased, victory was near.

At last, Vegeta had defeated the great Kakarott, the savior of Earth.

He shot to the skies and gloated one last time, that deadly smirk never leaving his sinister features. "So this is it. We've come to the end of our battle, feeble as it was. Before I eliminate you and your pathetic planet, I want you to remember something... I want you to remember that I offered you a chance for survival. I offered you the chance to leave this miserable planet behind and hone your skills with true warriors. All the people on the pathetic rock, all seven billion of these worthless insects, will have died because YOU were incompetent. You tried to stand up against the Prince of Saiyans, you tried to defy fate... and you failed."

Perhaps, in another time, they could have become allies and gotten over their differences. They might have even become rivals, continuing to fight one another... not with strife or with malice... but for the goal of bettering themselves.

Sadly, however, this was not that time...

"It's a shame," Vegeta's eyes drooped slightly at the thought of what could have been. "We could have made an excellent team. Entire star systems would have trembled at the sound of our names! You certainly showed enough promise... But it's too late now! You've dishonored our race and the Saiyan name for the last time!"

Goku sensed what was about to happen. It was only a matter of time. 'Dammit! Vegeta's going to destroy the planet! And the only thing standing in his way is... me!'

Further away, Gohan and Tien looked to the skies. Dark grey and purple thunder clouds rolled in, circling the airborne Prince. Lightning flashed ominously, possibly foreshadowing the outcome of the final confrontation.

"Dad!" the semi-Saiyan screamed at the top of his lungs. "You can do this! You HAVE to! For us! For the planet! For mommy!"

"Goku!" Yamcha shouted in encouragement. "I've seen you in worse scrapes than this! You just gotta believe in yourself! The fate of the world depends on it!"

"Goku..." Chiaotzu softly whispered, watching as the sky began to crackle due to the massive amount of energy. "...You saved my life before. I... I don't want to sound mean or anything... but p-please... s-save us..."

Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed a rotund figure scrambling his way through the mess of rocks and mountains. It couldn't be... Yajirobe?!

But it was. The fat Samurai shoved through a pile of rocks and cut through mountains, hoping to get a better glimpse of the colossal fight in front of him. None of the other Z-fighters could have possibly guessed his true intentions, but for now, they were glad their lazy friend was taking an active interest in the fight.

Meanwhile, the Prince of Saiyans curled his fingers and placed both his hands together at chest-level, facing the same direction. He twisted his body to the side, raising his leg like a dancer in Las Vegas. With a powerful grunt, he quickly accumulated as much energy as he could muster; the Prince of Saiyans contorted his face in anger and out of exerting so much effort.

"SAY GOOD-BYE, KAKAROTT!" He proclaimed dramatically, flaring his pale violet aura wildly. Jagged streaks of purple electricity seemed to shimmer down Vegeta's trembling figure. "Your pathetic planet will be nothing more than rubble after this!"

Goku entered a squared stance and raised his head towards Vegeta to get a clearer view, raising one arm to his forehead to shield himself from all the debris tumbling his way. _No... It isn't possible!_ The prince had concentrated his ki into a single, compressed point, much like he himself was able to do with the Kamehameha wave. The power he could feel from Vegeta's energy signature was just unbelievable!

"THIS IS IT, VEGETA!" he retaliated verbally, spurred by the encouragement of his friends. "AAAAAAAAH!"

A scarlet aura rapidly enveloped Goku, who began to summon whatever reverses he had untapped. Whatever he could find within him, he poured into his body, supersaturating his muscles with every single drop of energy he had. His muscles suddenly bulked up wildly; his blood vessels dilated to allow for increased blood flow to the muscles. The water in the air surrounding him boiled into hot steam, which suddenly billowed around the Earth's defender like a tornado.

The sight was a stunning combination of a burning red and a crackling purple. Lightning arced in the air from the sheer power being displayed before the planet's**—**fragile in comparison**—**core. Sweat trickled down Goku's drenched forehead, escaping like vapor from a pressure cooker. The steamy winds suddenly increased in velocity, creating a dust cloud around the mighty Earth-raised Saiyan. Even Vegeta himself was pushed back by the powerful winds exuded by his opponent below...

* * *

**_Meanwhile, at Kame House..._**

The green scouter that Bulma had modified began to beep rapidly, indicating the presence of a mighty power level.. The numbers exponentially shot up like a rocket, beginning to unnerve the characteristically temperamental woman. The blue-haired scientist grabbed the device on her ear and was awestruck by the numbers she was seeing. They just went higher... and higher... and higher, until...

"What is it?" came the cry of Chi-Chi, the wife of Goku. She had been worried for her son, and ever since that Saiyan hooligan had destroyed the news stations, they were practically blind to the intense battle raging in the rocky grounds.

BeepbeepbeepbeepbeepBRRIIP! The scouter on Bulma's face suddenly exploded, shattering the glass monitor and the earpiece with a quick CRRIISHH!

"Agh!" Bulma cried in shock, instinctively shielding her eye. Fortunately, none of the glass shards had landed in her eye. But those readings still awed her... was it possible? Was Goku just _that _strong now? What on Earth had he done in the last year that had made him so strong? Bulma supposed she would just have to ask him...

If he survived the fight, that is...

* * *

**_Meanwhile, on the Planet of the North Kai..._**

"NO!" the blue deity shrieked nasally in horror. "I told him not to go over double his power! His body isn't trained to handle more than that!"

"Ooh oh ooh ooh oh ooh!" Bubbles agreed, standing on his hind legs and pounding his chest muscles with his fists.

'Goku,' King Kai sulked internally. 'Please be careful...' He would never admit it, but the North Kai had become truly fond of the Saiyan warrior. He seemed to have this aura that would always cheer those around him. If Goku let the Earth be destroyed, along with its seven billion inhabitants, there was a chance that he wouldn't return to the Afterlife with a corporeal form...

* * *

**_Back on the Battlefield..._**

The scarlet flames encapsulated Goku, empowering him with raw energy. Amplified ki flowed through the Saiyan's veins, steadily increasing his muscle mass and strength. Goku's body and clothes took on a red hue, while Vegeta's form in the sky was now outlined in violet. Both Saiyan warriors locked eyes, and knew that this was the end. Neither would be walking away from this clash unscathed.

Goku ground his teeth, remembering all the innocent lives lost;he'd be damned if he were to let Vegeta claim billions more. The resounding cry of "no more" that had played in his head during his battle with Nappa began to echo within his conscience again, but he immediately tuned it out. He didn't need that long-forgotten side of himself; he didn't need Kakarott to fight his battles for him. _I... don't need to hate Vegeta... I... can't kill in cold blood again... one time was enough... but... I CAN'T LET HIM WIN! _He let out a large scream, his aura doubling in size as he did so.

Vegeta furrowed his brow in frustration and stress. He was confident in victory, but for some reason, he felt an uneasiness in the back of his mind. Kakarott had taken that Kaio-whatever technique to an unprecedented level, and though Vegeta did not know the specifics of its function, it was clear that this level of power could be dangerous for the both of them.

"KAIO-KEN..." Goku effortfully slackened his jaw, shifted his weight to his knees, and cupped his hands to the side. "TIMES... THREE!"

Yards away, Piccolo's ears perked immediately. He could feel the discordant fluctuations in Goku's ki starting to tear him apart. It was time...

"Chiaotzu, Krillin!" the Namekian barked, partially replenished by his strict meditative session. "Let's go!"

Both the bald warriors' eyes shot open in synchronization. They lifted themselves off their feet and quickly assessed the situation.

"Wow," the monk gasped. "I can almost feel Goku's body destroying him from the inside out. "That must be the weakness of that technique he used."

"It doesn't matter!" Chiaotzu squeaked. "He's in trouble! And thanks to Piccolo, we have some of our power back."

"Hmm," Piccolo confirmed. "It's obviously not going to be enough to put up a decent fight or anything, but it should be plenty for what you have to do."

The two warriors nodded fiercely and donned a look of pure determination. They powered up their pale white auras and shot towards the battlefield. Krillin and Chiaotzu knew what was at stake, and had replayed the scenario hundreds of times in their minds while they meditated. What little power they had accumulated would be just enough for them to enact their plan.

Meanwhile in the skies, Vegeta had gathered a purple orb of raw energy between the palms of his hands. It crackled menacingly and discharged violet bolts of lightning. In a sense, it symbolized the chaotic, unrestrained power of the Saiyan race. The Prince was proud to have developed and refined this technique over the years. It was rumored that his father, the old King of the Saiyans, had created the attack during the war, in an attempt to eradicate all Tsufuls from the planet. Decades passed and the technique became more brutal, more lethal, and more powerful. As a boy, Prince Vegeta was personally trained by the King to harness the raw energy of the attack. Now, the technique was to be used to eliminate the last members of the Saiyan race. The irony brought a grin to the Saiyan Conqueror's face. It was time for Kakarott to learn the true power of the Saiyans!

Vegeta focused his energy and compressed it even further, concentrating the energy blast in his hands. More lightning discharged from the sphere, and the Prince was shrouded in the bright purple aura of his power.

"GALICK GUN..." he roared, spraying a torrent of spittle. Sweat beads rolled down his forehead, vaporizing immediately due to the heat of the attack.

Goku cupped his hands and focused his energy into a blue orb between his palms. He remembered the first time he used this technique, years ago on Bulma's car. It was the day he had met Master Roshi and Chi-Chi. Back then, life had seemed so much simpler. All they had to do was search for seven magical orbs, and there was none of that 'survival-of-the-Earth-depends-on-it' stuff. Now, the technique he had first used to destroy a small car was to be used to protect the planet on which he lived. In a sense, it was symbolic; the technique that started Goku on the journey to becoming a powerful martial artist could just be the last technique he ever used.

"KA... ME... HA... ME..." The serene blue sphere in his hands amplified in volume and send shockwaves throughout the surrounding area. Mountains and towers of stone began to shake and crumble at the colossal display of power, while loose stones on the ground levitated in the air.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Goku closed his eyes and thrusted his arms forward, putting every ounce of power into the attack. The azure orb morphed into a beam of pure energy and shot towards the Prince of Saiyans with a deafening roar.

"... FIIIIIIIIIIRE!" Vegeta responded immediately, mirroring his opponent's movements. The crackling energy clump in his hands aggregated to a chaotic pillar of ki and flew towards the Earth at an alarming rate.

ZZZZSHHHHHH! The two beams collided in mid-air, sending shockwave that pushed back all the Z-fighters, including Yajirobe, who had slowly been sneaking towards the battle. The corpulent Samurai was ejected into the torrential winds that had resulted due to the beam clash.

Goku and Vegeta, meanwhile, were pushing with all their might. With each grunt and scream, the two beams flashed alarmingly. The force of the beam collision destroyed all the nearby mountains to dust and pebbles, which floated in the air, suspended by the ki.

"IT... CAN'T BE!" The Saiyan conqueror managed to cough. "His attack is as strong as my Galick Gun!"

"GRR!" Goku knew that he only had one chance, and that his power level was dropping quickly. At this rate, even if Vegeta was defeated, the Kaio-ken could just as easily kill Goku as well. There was a choice to make here... but the Saiyan knew that there could no more of this tension. No more fighting. It all would end here, one way or another...

Suddenly, the purple beam began to inch forward. The attack was slowly pushing down on the Kaio-ken 3X Kamehameha. In the Saiyan defender's mind, he had no choice. There was only one option that could save the planet.

But in the end, it very well could kill him...

* * *

_Will Goku, who's currently much weaker than he was in canon, prevail against Vegeta? Will he succeed? Even if he does, will he survive? Will Vegeta lose to the low-level scumbag? Find out next time, on Dragon Ball: The Saiyan's Cascade!_

* * *

**_We would like to give a special mention to Davidstarlingm of the legendary _****_Bringer of Death_****_ fanfic. Recently, he has stepped down from his position of co-author/editor of Bringer of Death, a fanfic that many enjoy. This chapter is in honor of the year and two months he spent building BoD from the ground up and writing with npberryhill, not even once taking a break for that duration. The two of us couldn't hold any more respect for this man, and we felt it prudent to dedicate this chapter to him. Original and Dave are good friends, and have worked together on many occasions, both for DBM and other projects. We'd like to thank him for all of his help and inspiration. Good luck to you in the future, man!_**

**_Now, some quick notes before we get to the Q&A: Apparently, the "Not-So-Isolated Wastelands" and the "Rocky Plains" areas are actually given names in canon. DBZ Wikia cites these names from _****_Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans_****_ for Nintendo DS. Break Wasteland is the area where Gohan and Piccolo trained together, Paprika Wasteland is the Saiyan Battlefield, and Gizard Wasteland is where Goku and Vegeta face off. We went through the last few chapters to correct that (along with some other formatting things). With that said, let's move on with the highly-anticipated (for us, anyways) Question Time!_**

**_And as an added bonus, the two of us, henceforth, will also be answering questions from the comment sections of Reddit's DBZ Subreddit, where we've gotten quite a few followers as well. Special thanks to you Reddit readers; we know that it's tough to consider reading a fic by simply just word of mouth, so having y'all reading this is just fantastic!_**

**_Also, heads up with our schedules: we're not going to be adhering to a schedule any time soon, but we HAVE had a bit more time to write recently. In fact, we pretty much wrote this chapter in the past few days!_**

**_One final thing before our normal Q&A session..._**

**_Rott: I'd like to give a special thanks to Original for being the predominant writer of this chapter. In the last chapter, we explicitly stated that he was the main writer as of late... well, to be honest, aside from the introduction, I barely wrote a thing, haha. I'd like to think I made up for it by editing (I honestly think this chapter is one of my best works), but again, thanks to Original for taking on the challenge of writing the bulk of this chapter without any consultation from me. I should hopefully be able to contribute more with these next few chapters, which have been what we're itching to write. The Saiyan Saga is always more of a challenge to write because of its bluntness; there's nothing you can really do but have the Saiyans fight the Z-Fighters. However, as we move into this part of the Vegeta battle, we think things will become much more interesting. There are a lot of variables and elements of TSC's Saiyan Saga that the canonical series lacked, and I can't tell you how excited Original and I are to reveal just how they'll affect the outcome of the fight._**

**_And with that, my friends, let's read the Q&A of this chapter..._**

* * *

_Q: Which one of you handles the A/N and Q&A?_

_A: Both of us are in control of both features in TSC. We both confer with each other on what to write before posting it, and we both, as a team, generally look the non-story content over once or twice to ensure we don't accidentally reveal anything that's still under wraps._

_Q: Curious if you plan to have Gohan develop a bit more as well in this?_

_A: As we said last time, we do have the entire storyline planned out (save for some small aspects that are most likely being discussed as you read this). We want to explore different aspects of the characters without having it be too unbelievable; for example, while we're both big fans of the humans(and, subsequently, giving them bigger roles), we're not going to introduce any special, unrealistic transformation that allows them to be on par with the Saiyans or anything. Fear not, however; they will have roles**—**roles that we are very excited to write. As for the others, they, as well, will be having developments - while we're not going to be able to explore each character to the extents of others, we do hope to maintain a fair balance to accentuate our story._

_Q: Also, while pairings arent very important unless you count BUlma/Vegeta, are you going to mix them up a bit?_

_A: We won't include any romance that isn't backed by rational reasoning and analysis of the characters' personalities. First and foremost, this is an action and adventure story, not a romance story. That's not to say we don't respect that genre... but, ultimately, it's not what TSC is driven by._

_Q: This story is great guys. I love that Yamcha's got a good - scratch that - GREAT moment. I really hope that you guys will make Krillin have some great moments too. Too many people bash him around. As for the Japanese names, I love that you're using them. I never knew the Spirit Bomb was named differently in the original Japanese Dragon Ball Z manga. Thanks for being such awesome - no - LEGENDARY Fanfiction writers._

_A: Thanks so much for the wonderful compliments! We do agree that Yamcha and Krillin get bashed around quite a bit, so we thought we'd do something different. Obviously, we don't want to make things too crazy. One of our main goals is to write a unique storyline about DBZ that explores different aspects of the story and the characters, so be sure to see more of that._

_Q: my prediction will be it being slightly easier as Goku is on time, Yamcha and Chaotzu Are alive, but on the other hand due to Vegeta getting involved in the beginning it would be harder, oh well, I'll jus follow Nd find out!_

_A: That's the way to play it! Hopefully, the story so far isn't as predictable as you'd think; as you can tell, Goku, in TSC, is a lot more fatigued than he was in the canonical series. Will this affect anything, especially when everyone else is still waiting in the wings? Keep following us for more awesome content!_

_Q: Chiaotzu paralysed Vegeta waaayyy too often. He shouldn't be able to do it at all, let alone for an instant._

_Q: Bull. I have to call bull on the Chiaotzu thing, seriously..._

_A: A lot of people have been really perturbed about the way we handled this. Personally, we really don't see a problem with it. For crying out loud, Goku is the Messiah of DBZ. We think it's perfectly reasonable for Chiaotzu to be empowered by the presence of his ultra-powerful friend. We're not saying that his presence does anything like multiply his power or give him a boost; we're saying that that inspiration and motivation is what gives him the determination and strength to paralyze Vegeta, if only for LESS THAN HALF A SECOND. (We'd also like to point out that he only paralyzed the Prince of Saiyans a total of only two times, so it was never anything unreasonable). Even if you don't buy this rationalization, you can more or less disregard it (if you want; we don't recommend it, though), as it doesn't have a huge impact on the storyline._

_Q: Uh...this isn't really a choice here. If Goku picks protecting the earth, then he'll fight Vegeta. if we picks his sayian instincts, then he we'll still fight Vegeta. Sayians are not incapable of caring for others, as shown by Bardock. Goku's friends will not cease being his friends. If anything having him pick sayian instincts will make him more likely to fight Vegeta, since he's no longer interested in a peaceful solution._

_Q: It would make absolutely NO sense for Goku to join Vegeta. I'm surprised he even considered it. He keeps saying how he fights to protect his friends. In Dragon Ball Z he didn't give a flying fuck about Planet Trade, why would he here? He kills Nappa for injuring his friends, and then considers joining an organization that actually guarantees the death of his friends. I'm sorry, I'm not insulting you, merely stating my opinion. I'll respect what you do with it and read the story anyway. I really like the writing so far._

_A: We talked about this at the very beginning of the chapter and tried to give insight into Goku's thought process. Keep in mind that at that point, his mind is very... rattled; we tried to hint at that with Piccolo's comments. He just murdered a man in cold blood for torturing his friends and feels that he can never be pure of heart again. If he takes up the offer, there's still a chance that he can verbally persuade Vegeta from destroying the planet. In his desperate mind, it's a very valid offer. But of course, we know that Goku is, deep down, pure of heart and as such, he would side with justice. This moment of hesitation and ambiguity was one of those instances where we wanted to explore that "other side" a bit more, without painfully stretching his character. See, everyone likes to think of Goku as the ultimate hero... that's true, but we wanted to make him into more of a realist. He can't save everyone; he has to make choices. The past three chapters (and subsequently, this one) hopefully demonstrated our goal._

_Q: If I do have one complaint, it's that the continuous switching of battles happens a little too frequently and I would have liked some more in depth narration for characters' reasoning and not just fighting, which was superb._

_A: This is a pretty fair criticism. We really wanted to capture the chaotic scene with multiple different battles going on at the same time. Each fighter has his own agenda, and all the different agendas overlap in some sense. Sometimes, they even get in the way of each other. This battle was really a free-for-all sort of thing, so skipping between perspectives was (in our minds) a subtle way of conveying that. Hopefully, though, we didn't make it feel like it was TOO rushed; we think that we did spend a decent amount of time with each perspective. Sorry if it seemed to be choppy or odd to you!_

_Q: Btw, if you are trying to include all the dbz movies, does that mean Dr Wheelo, and the dead zone movie too? I think those were to be fit at the beginning of Dbz, sorta before Raditz, but aw well. Didn't really care for the Wheelo one._

_A: In our eyes, the Dead Zone movie would have turned out no different if Krillin hadn't been there. We don't mean to say that Krillin is weak or anything, but what we're saying is that his contributions could've easily been accounted for by Goku and Piccolo. So for all intents and purposes, we consider it "canon" that the events of the first movie occurred before Raditz's arrival. We will be alluding to this in later chapters. The second movie, however, has Goku struggling to pull off a Kaio-ken 4X (or is it 3X? Doesn't matter, really); this means it HAD to take place after King Kai's training, right? So how do we plan to work that into the story? You'll find out soon enough ;)_

_Q: Goku probably would never kill Nappa_

_A: There is a difference between this Goku and canon Goku, right? To put this quite morbidly, the difference between TSC and Canon Goku is the difference between someone seeing their parents murdered in front of their eyes and someone who hears from the police that their parents had been killed. Both outcomes are horrible and depressing, but someone who SEES these events play out in front of him will react much more fiercely and angrily than someone who hears about it (they'd most likely be depressed and vengeful instead). Now TSC Nappa didn't kill anyone, but he did come pretty damn close. And for Goku, seeing the people he cares about almost killed in front of his eyes... It's pretty maddening. Combine this with the reasoning above (Goku making choices), and you have a mad, mad, mad, Saiyan. (Points to anyone who can get that reference!)_


	5. Chapter 5 - Unity

_Thanks to all you wonderful fans, the view count for The Saiyan's Cascade continues to grow at a steady rate! As of today, the view count for our story is officially 4,959! We're so grateful to have such awesome readers and reviewers; hopefully, once the Saiyan Saga comes to an end, we can get to more serious business and take the story in a more unique direction, as was intended in the original outline. Until then, keep recommending the story to your DBZ-loving friends and keep hitting that handy-dandy "Follow" Button for consistent updates on our story! Thanks again for all your support; it means alot to us, especially considering how busy we both are in real life!_

**The Saiyan's Cascade**

_**Saiyan Saga**_

Chapter 5: Unity

* * *

**_Gizard Wasteland, Age 762:_**

The Saiyan from Earth closed his eyes, desperately attempting to keep the flying dust and debris from breaking his focus. If he failed here, it was over. There was really only one option left... but would it be worth it? If he took the Kaio-ken technique up one more level, the power could be just enough to push back the Galick Gun; however, in his weakened state, Goku could easily be consumed by the attack and lose his life. It was truly a gamble, one the Saiyan took a moment to ponder over.

'It doesn't matter if I die again,' Goku internally told himself, desperately seeking reserves he could find within; unfortunately, whatever excess power he had seemed to be draining rapidly. 'What matters is what I've been training to achieve for the past year... the safety of Earth. And, no matter what...' His muscles seemed to expand even further from their current state of supersaturation, resulting in even more strain on the spiky-haired hero's body. '...I can't fail them!'

"VEGETA!" He shouted, drawing his arms back ever-so-slightly. With this, he knew, it was truly now or never. He would prevail here... or he would perish, alone and forgotten. "YOU CAN'T DESTROY EARTH!"

"YOU CAN'T STOP ME NOW, KAKAROTT!" Vegeta forcefully spat. "IT'S TOO LATE! YOU AND THIS PATHETIC PLANET WILL BURN IN HELL!"

"THEN I'LL TAKE YOU THERE WITH ME!" Goku snapped his eyes open, a renewed fire burning within his very soul. They were the eyes of a man who knew he had nothing to gain, but everything to lose. He had nothing more to do, nothing left to say... but howl:

"KAIO-KEN... TIMES... FOUR!"

The scarlet aura around the planet's defender swelled in size and empowered its user even further. Goku felt an even stronger burning sensation throughout his body, tearing him apart from the inside-out. From his hands, a new "layer" of energy steadily climbed up the existing beam and collided against the purple Galick Gun. The Turtle Destruction Wave's diameter increased and shoved against the opposing energy beam, trying with all its might to overpower the Saiyan Prince's blast of destruction.

A shockwave echoed across the planet, and suddenly… it happened.

The azure beam completely overwhelmed its purple counterpart and dashed towards Vegeta, pushing the Prince's attack against him. The combined force of both attacks quickly enveloped Vegeta in a sphere of blue-purple energy and pushed him straight up in the air. A faint trail of blue light followed the path of the attack and the orb of ki vanished with a twinkle. At last... it was over.

"WOOHOO!" Yamcha cheered excitedly from the distance. "You did it, Goku! You beat that bastard once and for all!"

On the ground beneath him, Yajirobe pushed a boulder off of him and stuttered in shock, "What... the... hell? He... did it!"

The rotund samurai leaped from the ground and sprinted towards his friend. "HE DID IT! HE ACTUALLY DID IT! HAHAH, GOKU, YOU MAGNIFICENT BASTARD!"

As soon as the gruff voice hit the Saiyan's eardrums, Goku's head whipped sharply to the side, and a slight jolt of pain accompanied the movement; his body still seared from that burst of Kaio-ken. Nevertheless, he was incredulous to see Yajirobe, of all people, before him.

"Yajirobe?" he coughed out, spitting blood and straining his voice. "What in the world *cough* are you doing out here?"

"Well uh," the Samurai snickered, still taking in the euphoria that came with Goku's victory. It was truly an unbelievable fight, one he didn't think that the Earth-raised Saiyan would win... Yet, as he always managed to do, the spiky-haired hero proved him wrong. "Someone had to keep an eye on you. As strong as you are, you almost got your ass handed to ya a couple times, huh?"

"Hehehe, I guess," Goku forcefully smiled, remembering the calming normalcy of his life before the Saiyans. But something kept nagging him in the back of his mind... almost as if the fight wasn't truly over...

"Yeah," Yajirobe folded his arms. "But hey, way to launch that alien dude into orbit! I knew you'd come through in the end. Nice one!" The corpulent warrior lightly smacked his friends arm in a friendly manner, congratulating him.

"YAAAAGH!" Suddenly Goku shrieked in pain and started heaving violently. His entire body felt like it was on fire once more, and his muscles twitched rapidly.

"What happened?" Yajirobe asked confusedly. "I barely touched you."

"I may have pushed my body a bit past its limit," hissed Goku back in a hushed whisper; it pained him just to talk.

"Well, I guess I'm not surprised; you were on fire," his friend joked light-heartedly.

Goku eyed his son and Yamcha steadily approaching them, and suddenly was hit by a grave realization. It perfectly explained why Tien and Piccolo kept their eyes fixed on the skies... This battle was not over yet... far from it.

"Listen to me," the Earth-raised Saiyan heaved, collapsing to the floor on his back. The impact sent an agonizing wave of pain throughout his body, his skin already beginning to redden with fresh bruises. "You gotta get out of here. It's not *cough* safe yet!"

Yamcha stepped forward and softly grasped his friend's hand. A look of genuine worry blanketed his eyes as he asked, "What are you talking about, man? You don't mean..."

Goku weakly smiled at his friend above him and managed, "He's still out there. No way that was all it's gonna take to finish a guy like that off."

"Who cares?!" Gohan shook his father's shoulders. He wanted to believe that his father could continue on, that his father still held victory in his hands. The realist within him conflicted with his inner child... He couldn't just lose faith in his dad, could he? "Let him come back! I mean, you'll just blow him away again... right, Dad?"

"Well, not necessarily," Goku groaned, his heart warming at the sight of his son. As much as he wanted to tell Gohan that it would be fine, something within the Saiyan told him that he couldn't have been farther from the truth... "My body's pretty worn out; that might have been all I had in me."

"You don't say, huh...?" Yajirobe's eyes widened in fear once more, but seeing his friend in such a pathetic state worried him. He looked at Yamcha, who seemed to be on the verge of tears, and then at Gohan, who seemed to be formulating a desperate plot. The last hope of the world was lying on the floor, his arms perpendicular to his body. It was strange... normally, the samurai would be running away. But something kept him glued to the same spot. Maybe it was the look in Gohan's eyes, the sorrow of a son mourning for his father. Maybe it was Yamcha, who wanted to thank Goku in some way for saving him all those times in the past, whether it was against Nappa or even against the Red Ribbon Army.

Ultimately, he didn't know what fueled him to stay. But he knew that he would stand with his friends, whether they lived or died this day.

"Goku," Yamcha gripped his friend's hand tighter. "I want you to know that the life I've lived until now... is all thanks to you. Without you, I'd probably still be in the desert, living the bandit life. I would never have met Bulma, I'd never have met Tien, and I'd never have become as close as we all have. You taught me how to be good, and you've given me the chance to live my life to the fullest by saving my life so many times. And for that, I thank you."

Tears rolled down the scar-faced bandit's cheek and his hand began to glow with golden-white energy. Suddenly, his entire arm became enveloped in the aura, rolling in a sea pale yellow energy. With a slight grunt, Yamcha transferred the power he had received thanks to the senzu bean into Goku. The Saiyan gasped as the energy began to fill his arms and empowered him further; minor wounds began to heal and the searing sensation of the Kaio-ken subsided.

Inspired by Yamcha, Yajirobe also took a step forward and grabbed Goku's other hand. He too transferred all the power he had within into his friend.

"Goku," he managed to splutter out, his voice shaky. "We've known each other for a long time... And if there was ever a time we needed you more, this is it. So kick that Saiyan's ass!"

"Thanks for everything, guys." The Saiyan from Earth raised himself to his feet and gave his friends and son a powerful hug.

"It wasn't that much, man," Yamcha chuckled, trying to be modest. "I think it was just enough to get you back onto your feet."

Goku clasped his old friend's shoulder and smiled. "Don't lie to me. That was everything you had, and I appreciate every bit of it."

"Well, you need it more than I do. Besides, you had my back; I'm just repaying the favor." Yamcha saluted one last time as he flew back to his old position, putting all his trust in his old friend. He had to win... there was simply no other option.

Yajirobe scuttled away discreetly, not wanting to create an emotional scene like Yamcha had before. Though he would never admit it, he was glad that Goku was back in action. Maybe now they would have a chance...

"DADDY!" Gohan pounced on his father, ecstatic to see him on his feet. "Do you think you can really take on Vegeta, now?"

"Well, maybe not directly," Goku mused. "But I think I have a trick that just might work..."

* * *

_**Meanwhile, in the Earth's Upper Stratosphere...**_

"AAAAAAAAAAGH!" The Prince of Saiyans' tail flopped in the wind as the powerful blast of the Kamehameha and the Galick Gun launched him further and further into space, his fury increasing with every meter

With a tremendous heave, Vegeta rolled over to the side and off the energy sphere, which flew higher up and vanished with a twinkle. The flame-haired warrior levitated in place, muttering and grumbling angrily. One of the shoulderpads of his armor was destroyed, and blood was leaking out of his mouth. A vein pulsed in his forehead as his eyes reddened.

"NOOOOOOO!" he clenched his fists and waved them up and down. Suddenly, his hair spiked up further and his tail's fur became bushy. "NO LOW CLASS BOTTOM FEEDER CAN SURPASS ME IN STRENGTH! IT'S UNTHINKABLE! THE BASTARD WASN'T EVEN AT FULL POWER AND HE DID THIS! HOW DARE HE?! I AM NOT JUST A SAIYAN! I AM THE CULMINATION OF EVERYTHING SUPERIOR IN THE SAIYAN RACE!"

As soon as his rant ended, Vegeta gasped and heaved for air. With each breath, his mind cleared a little bit more; he was not a slave to his emotions like Nappa was. No... he was the Prince of Saiyans, and as a member of this glorious extinct race, he had an advantage that others did not

"As much as I hate that it's come to this," Vegeta grinned sinisterly, rolling his left hand into a full fist. As it tightened "It seems I'm left with no choice. I'll transform into a Great Ape and grind him to a pulp! Hehehe, we'll see how cocky he is once he witnesses the full extent of my power!"

He turned his head from side to side, remembering a vital detail of his original plan. "Fortunately, I planned our arrival to coincide with the full moon... But that was so we could wipe out the inhabitants of this planet quickly. I never imagined that I'd have to transform to defeat a single—"

CRASH! Vegeta's sentence was suddenly cut off by a flying boulder that hit his face. Wait... a boulder? Up in the sky?! He turned around, trying to desperately make sense of it all, his mind still ringing from the beam struggle.

BOOM! Another boulder crashed into his back, sending him stumbling forwards. When Vegeta turned around he saw Chiaotzu and Krillin... and Chiaotzu and Krillin... and Chiaotzu and Krillin... and even more copies! The Prince snapped his head around once more... only to find that he was completely surrounded by afterimage copies of those two pesky imps!

"NOW!" the innumerous clones seemed to speak in unison. The Chiaotzu copies raised their arms and surrounded themselves in a light blue outline. Suddenly, an ocean of tiny stones and pebbles rose to the air, circling in a ring above the clones. With a grunt, the imps pushed their arms forward, combining the ocean of dust and stones into a massive sphere around the Saiyan conqueror.

Vegeta gasped in shock as he was pelted by sharp stones that cut across his face. His thoughts were still messy and his emotions clouded his concentration due to the struggle against Kakarott; soon enough, the chaotic dust completely obscured his vision.

"HYAA!" In his state of confusion and panic, the Prince of Saiyans began shooting beams of purple energy in random directions, unable to see his targets.

Near one of the fake Chiaotzus, the real Krillin noticed something... Vegeta couldn't sense energy without his scouter! Using this to his advantage, he leaped above the dust cloud and fired a barrage of yellow ki pellets. The Saiyan Conqueror was pushed towards the ground, unable to focus his energy in the state of chaos.

He raised his arms - which were still pulsating in pain from the Galick Gun - and charged a powerful wave of ki. The energy beam hit Krillin in the chin, snapping his head back and causing him to lose focus over his afterimage technique. The Prince, however, could not brace for the recoil of the attack, and fell straight to the ground. Grime still covered his face and the itching sensation of sand and pebbles in his skin made it nearly impossible to focus his reduced energy-level.

Chiaotzu ceased his afterimage technique and hovered over his foe, who continued to fall through the air. 'This is for Goku!' he thought to himself, willing himself to gather what little energy he had accumulated from his meditative state with Piccolo.

The pale imp pointed his index finger towards the falling prince and gathered ki into the tip. The end began to glow with a golden glow and crackled menacingly. This was the technique that Master Crane had taught Tien and Mercenary Tao ages ago; it was the technique that Tien had taught to Chiaotzu when they were still assassins, long before they had met Goku. And now, it was to be used against a being who was every bit as evil as Master Crane...

"DODON RAY!" he shrilled loudly, elongating the point at the tip of his finger into a penetrating beam. Then, he fired, shutting his eyes and praying that he'd be able to repel the Saiyan.

The golden ray of energy shot straight down and slammed the Prince of Saiyans in the chest. Of course, it was nothing that could have caused significant damage, but the impact of the blow accelerated his descent to the ground.

Vegeta shook his head rapidly, trying to make sense of what had happened. The Earthlings used... an Afterimage? And then they surrounded him in a dust cloud... or something? The pieces fell together in place as the Saiyan Conqueror tried to make sense of his opponents' pathetic plan... But it was too late.

CRASH! The flame-haired Saiyan forcefully landed on the ground, releasing a cloud of brown dust. A small crater formed underneath his feet as he struggled to lift himself off the ground. He brushed the dry soil off of his broken armor, and remembered his thoughts before the little... distraction. It didn't matter; once he became the Mighty Oozaru, he would rid himself of those pests.

'Now that that's over with,' he rotated his shoulders, cracking them loudly. 'Where is that goddamn moon?!'

"OVER HERE, VEGETA!" screamed a resonating voice, full of hope and determination. It cut through the air and interrupted the Saiyan Prince's thoughts. The latter spun around quickly, cracking his neck strenuously as his head turned. A blue-white orb of light accelerated towards him rapidly. By the time he realized what it was, there was no time to react...

* * *

**_Moments Earlier..._**

Goku raised his arms, letting out a heavy sigh in an attempt to quell his adrenaline. He knew that Krillin and Chiaotzu could only stall for so long, but it seemed as if he'd have all the time he needed. He remembered the lessons that King Kai had taught him over the last year, all the trials through which he had pushed his body to the limit; now, it was time to bring his efforts to fruition!

"I call upon the mountains," the Saiyan from Earth prayed softly, lifting his arms to the sky. "I call upon the seas. I call upon all living things on Planet Earth. Share your energy with me! Just a tiny bit of your life force is all I need! Help me... create a Spirit Bomb!"

'Come on!' Goku desperately hoped. 'Please work!' Suddenly, a faint, ethereal hum was heard throughout the planet. Flowers, trees, oceans... They all released a portion of their Genki into the wind, which coalesced into the Saiyan's body. His pure heart gathered the energy and converted it, manifesting the sum of the ki into a tangible white aura around him.

ZZING! A buzz ran through the back of Goku's skull, reminding him that Vegeta was on the descent. He knew he had only seconds left before the Prince of Saiyans was within range. The muscles in Goku's biceps twitched sporadically, signaling that the time had come, and that the Genki Dama was ready. The pure-hearted Saiyan flexed his arm and signaled the energy into his fist.

"Heh, it's done!" he proudly exclaimed. "I've gathered energy from all corners of the world!"

THUD! A cloud of dust exploded from the ground seemingly coincidentally. As the royal Saiyan staggered off the ground, Kakarott condensed the energy of his attack into a shining blue-white sphere. With a powerful shout, the latter flung his arm forwards and launched the Spirit Bomb towards his opponent, praying for success.

Vegeta never even had time to react.

Pain. Excruciating, searing, agonizing pain met Vegeta the instant that orb of pure genki touched his skin. No defense, no time to cover his body with a ki barrier; there wasn't even enough time to make the slightest movement...

The azure orb engulfed his body and surrounded him in hot white flames. The pain seared not only his body, but it seemed to burn his soul as well. It was as if the Prince's very mind was being chipped away, bit by bit. His consciousness faded in and out, his vision going black every other second; his muscles spasmed with uncontrollable movements. His nervous system was being pounded with jolt after jolt of energy, preventing him from even gathering any energy to attempt to shrug off the sphere.

He screamed—no, shrieked—in fear and pain... but no one could hear over the roar of the winds. Suddenly, Vegeta felt his body shifting backwards, as if he was being pushed by a powerful truck. His vision warped a little bit, and the mountains in front of him zipped away into the horizon.

CRASH! The Prince of all Saiyans slammed ungracefully into a rock formation, causing it to crumble and topple over him. The burning sensation began to numb, and his head was still spinning. Broken and battered, Vegeta could do nothing more than hurl up a fresh puddle of blood next to his fallen form.

But he wasn't defeated... not yet.

TAC. The light footsteps of the his opponent echoed around the area. He furrowed his brow, knowing full well that the battle was far from over. But from what he could sense, it was apparent the Spirit Bomb had been successful. Vegeta was barely holding on to his sanity, and his power level had dropped to a bit under that of Raditz. To Goku, it was so strange to think that one year ago, this ki would have terrified him. Had it not been for King Kai's training, there was no telling what could have happened. But now was no time to dwell on the past.

Goku's navy blue boot stepped forward a foot, when suddenly—

ZOOM! An immaculate white orb rose from the pile of rubble and soared into the sky, almost eclipsing the sun. The Prince of Saiyans rose from the rocks and lifted his hand into the sky. This was his last hope; it was his last chance of proving his superiority to Kakarott, his last chance to prove that he was a true Saiyan!

"Urgh! Hehehe..." Vegeta, though on the brink of his demise, somehow found it within him to smirk in the face of death. "You think you've defeated me, haven't you? But you've forgotten one little detail: I'm a Saiyan warrior! And under the light of the full moon, we morph into a form that represents the culmination of Saiyan wrath... the mighty Oozaru!"

Though his opponent had spoken to him, Goku was more puzzled by his enemy's actions. His power had just been cut in half! 'Why would he just use a technique that would drop his power like that? Vegeta's a lot of things, but an idiot isn't one of 'em. Maybe there was something else going on...'

"Hang on, I don't even see a full moon anywhere! It's still daytime!"

Further away - yet still able to listen in due to the sensitive hearing of the Namekians - Piccolo smirked confidently, grateful that his foresight had saved them from a calamity. Without the moon, the Namekian knew that the prince stood no chance against even just Goku, much less their combined might. 'The war against the Saiyans is over, at long last...'

But he smiled too soon...

"HAHAHAH! HAHAHAHA!" Vegeta cackled. "Do you even know why it is we Saiyans transform when we see a full moon, Kakarott? The moon appears lit only because it reflects the light of the sun... but when the sunlight is bounced from the lunar surface, it causes a slight shift in the wavelength, creating what we Saiyans know as a Blutz Wave. And when the moon is full, their intensity is over 17 million zenos!"

"Uh..." Goku muttered, perplexed by what his opponent was saying. He wasn't rather bright to begin with, and the concept simply flew over his head. "I'm afraid ya lost me there."

"Once 17 million zenos are absorbed by the Saiyan retina, our bodies respond to a biochemical reaction, produced in the tail... and we transform. Among the elite of our race, there are those capable of actually producing a satellite! With the emissions of zenos necessary to initiate the change. Observe what happens when my Power Ball mixes with the oxygen in the atmosphere!"

Vegeta immediately clenched his hand into a fist, and yelled, "BURST OPEN AND MIX!"

The white orb in the sky flared, and tiny tendrils of energy wisped into the air. Meanwhile, the Prince's cackles began to deepen into a more primal roar.

"WAHAHAHA!" his voice growled loudly, now resembling the snarl of a beast rather than a humanoid creature. "Boy, would that long-lost tail of yours ever come in handy right about now!"

WUBdub. WUBdub. WUBdub. The Saiyan's heartbeat echoed menacingly as his pupils vanished and his canine teeth elongated into fangs. His nose shrunk and a snout formed right above his elongated mouth. Suddenly, his body became hairy, and hairier, and... furry; his irises changed from white to a vicious blood-red. He slowly grew in size, though his clothes didn't seem to tear for some reason; instead, his cracked armor just grew right with him.

Soon enough, the transformation was complete. Vegeta had become... a giant bipedal monkey!

"It's over, Kakarott!" the Great Ape roared. "You've played your best card, and you're out of options! With this form, I'm ten times stronger than I was! Now, kneel before your prince!"

"His power..." Goku stammered in awe and fear, realizing that, yet again, the tables had turned. "If I was at full strength, this would've been a cakewalk. But now, I just don't know."

The towering ape swung a hairy fist at an astonishing speed, forcing the Earth-raised Saiyan to leap backwards with a flip. The instant he landed on his feet, however, he was punched from the side by the Oozaru's other gargantuan hand. Goku tumbled sideways, and coughed blood; that one attack had nearly shattered his ribs.

'Just when I think it's over,' Goku mentally complained. 'This guy just pulls new tricks from out of nowhere. But something tells me this is his last card... The level he's at seems about the same as his friend Nappa's. Which means... we might just be able to pull this off!'

At that precise moment, a massive foot fell from the sky, threatening to crush Goku, who was lost in thought. Fortunately for the earth's defender, however, one individual had found the courage within to save him.

And that individual was...

"Gohan?!" Goku yelped in surprise. "Wow, I didn't even see you. Either I'm losing my touch, or you've gotten much more powerful than I thought!"

"Haha, thanks, dad," the Saiyan hybrid chuckled as his father affectionately tousled his hair. "But watch out, Vegeta's super strong now!"

"Don't worry, kiddo," the father assured with a confident smile. "I think I got a plan..."

* * *

**_Meanwhile, in a Realm beyond Mortal Perception... _**

"Oh, no..." King Kai riveted in place, fearful for his student. No matter what the Earth's Protectors threw at the Saiyan, he just wouldn't seem to go down. "What could Goku possibly have planned?! He can't possibly be thinking of firing off another Kaio-ken-enhanced blast like he did before; his body can't handle it! He'll just end up bringing himself right back here!"

Bubbles looked to his friend in concern and hooted encouragingly. He stood up and pounded his chest with his fists as a sign of support.

King Kai looked towards the simian with a wistful smile. It seemed Goku really _did _have an effect on everyone he met, even on animals. He always seemed to find the light in the darkness, and he always taught others to do the same.

"Goku, whether you're listening to me or not," the Kai of the North mumbled. "I want you to know that we're all praying for your success! Now kick that Saiyan's ass and make him tuck tail!" the Kai took a moment to snicker at his humor before returning to watching his student.

* * *

**_Back at the Battlefield..._**

Piccolo overheard everything, but was unconvinced of the plan's success. It was still entirely possible that Vegeta would see it coming, but the Namekian was determined to make sure it worked. He beckoned for Tien to join him and relayed the important message. As Gohan and Goku continued their discussion, the three-eyed warrior shot towards the giant ape in order to divert his attention.

It was time to enact their last hope for victory.

"HEY, UGLY!" Tien screamed loudly, hoping that the massive ape would be provoked by his derogatory comment. It was all riding on this; victory was so close... but if this failed, Vegeta would certainly emerge victorious. 'Please... please work!'

The flame-haired Saiyan, falling for the verbal bait, stopped in his tracks and shot a red-eyed glare towards the triclops before growling lowly. "Do you have an early death wish, three-eyes? Allow me to help you out!"

"TAKE THIS!" Tien screamed as he raised his hands to his forehead, shutting all three of his eyes in the process of doing so. 'This is it!'

"I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" Vegeta snarled, unhinging his jaw and amassing a great amount of energy into a bright violet sphere of light, which he then prepared to fire out of his maw. "SAY GOODBYE!"

"SOLAR FLARE!" came the cry of the triclops; moments after, a blinding flare of light began to race out in all directions, swarming and violently enveloping the prince's eyes in violent fingers of energy. His eyes giving out on him, Vegeta could do nothing but claw at his eyes in pain and stagger backwards, his footsteps shaking the land violently.

Goku—who had luckily been far away enough to avoid the immediate rays of the Solar Flare—upon realizing Tien's intentions, motioned for his son to cover his eyes; he pounced and zipped far away with the assistance of the Kaio-ken technique, then raised his hands above him. He chanted once more and silently pleaded with the creatures of the Earth again.

'I'm sorry for having to take more energy from you,' the pure-hearted Saiyan voiced internally, 'but I need your help once again. Skies, oceans, animals... Lend me your strength. Help me defeat the man who wants to destroy our home!'

The energy gathered quickly—faster than it had before, in fact—but Goku knew he had little time remaining. Tien's Solar Flare would only hold him off for so long, and after that, it was game over. They wouldn't be able to buy any more time; they would have to make do with what they had.

Goku just hoped it'd be enough.

Suddenly, as he watched Vegeta writhe in agony, a realization dawned on him—this monster… the tail… the moon… it was all tied together. Without any of these elements, Vegeta wouldn't be able to ascend to this transformation.

And it made sense why Goku, in all his right mind, could never truly remember having seen it… for, once upon a time, he _was _that monster. It had been _him_ who had killed his grandfather; he was the monster responsible behind this murder.

Monochromatic memories flashed vividly before his eyes. He remembered his Old Grandpa's soothing voice, warning him of a monster that appeared during the Full Moon; he remembered Pilaf's Castle, and the World Martial Arts Tournament. During all three events, one factor remained consistent: the surrounding areas were destroyed by a giant monster, of which Goku had no memory. It all made sense now… _He _was the one responsible for all the damage. _He _was the one who killed...

'Grandpa Gohan...' Goku bowed his head, a tear dropping from his eye, 'I'm sorry for accidentally killing you. If this fails, and I go back to Otherworld, I'll be sure to apologize to you in person...'

But for now, he knew that he could not afford to fulfill his promise. No, he needed to win... not just for him, but for everyone and everything that called Earth home. Fueled by these thoughts, Goku refocused his attention on the Genki Dama, smiling when he realized that victory was only literally a few moments away.

'IT'S ALMOST READY!' he internally shouted in victory. 'Just a few more seconds, and I'll be—"

But it was far too late...

The Prince of Saiyans had recovered his sight and locked eyes with his opponent. Goku's expression faltered, knowing that he had no chance; the Spirit Bomb still needed a handful of seconds to maximize the damage; against Vegeta, he couldn't take any chances. The bastard had tanked some of Goku's most powerful attacks and more, still somehow finding the strength within to continue fighting. In fact, he didn't even know if this final gambit would work. Truly, Goku held more than just the Spirit Bomb in his hands; he held the souls of each and every living being on the Earth... not just their energy.

As he saw the Saiyan Ape prepare to attack, Goku grimaced. If only there were some way to accelerate the process of finalizing the sphere's energy...

ZHUUM! Vegeta slackened his jaw and a wide purple beam emitted from his gaping maw. The next instant, Goku's vision was filled with nothing but violet fire... and suddenly, BOOM!

The energy wave exploded on impact with Goku's muscular torso, but the force knocked him backwards, forcing him to lose concentration and control of the genki he had gathered. The genki immediately dissipated from his fingertips as he collapsed to the ground, panting heavily as he clung to the last strings of consciousness.

All the Z-Fighters shared a collective gasp of shock. Son Goku, the earth's greatest champion, had fallen to the might of Vegeta, the Saiyan Prince! Their greatest hope had fallen, unable to stand and continue the duel. There was no doubt in everyone's minds: Vegeta had won.

But one still refused to submit.

The sight of his father's limp body caused something to snap in the hybrid. Suddenly, he was no longer the calm, placid child that Chi-Chi had raised; instead, he became a being of unbridled rage.

"DON'T... TOUCH... MY... DADDY!" the Saiyan hybrid roared, releasing a primal growl from the back of his throat. The child pounced in the air and swung his fist vengefully, connecting the blow with the bottom of Vegeta's massive jaw.

CRACK! The impact snapped the giant ape's head backward and caused the giant ape to stumble in place. He slowly lowered his head and glared at the offender with cold, unforgiving eyes. In a swift motion, he grabbed the boy with a single hand and squeezed furiously, crushing the boy's entire torso with a mere flex of his fingers.

"YAAAAAAAH!" Gohan felt like his entire body was on fire; he felt like he was about to hurl. He could hear the crunch of each rib, the snap of his left arm breaking. With a heavy grunt, the semi-Saiyan pulled his right arm out of the giant ape's grip and stared him right in the eye.

"What's the matter, half-breed?" Prince Vegeta took a minute to gloat. "Is wittle Gohan upset because I hurt his daddy? HAHAHA!"

Meanwhile, far behind Gohan, Piccolo landed on a tall rock formation. Upon seeing his disciple being crushed before his very eyes, his brows furrowed in frustration and anger. He widened his legs and bent his knees; his muscles tensed and he raised two fingers to his forehead.

_"_No one hurts my kid and gets away with it!" the Namekian growled in a low voice. Hopefully, the attack would work this time... If not, however…

"MASENKO..." Gohan raised his right arm high above his head, conjuring an unstable yellow orb of energy above his brow. He knew it was fruitless, that he would never be able to beat the massive ape alone, but he had to try… not just for him, but for his daddy. "HAAAAAAA!"

PLOW! The golden beam of ki followed a straight path which intersected precisely with the Oozaru's giant red eyeball. The Prince of Saiyans loosened his grip and dropped Gohan's feeble body, which landed on the ground with a soft squeak. The semi-Saiyan coughed weakly and sputtered, but let out a wide, toothy grin. He sensed a sudden spike in ki level behind him, and immediately understood Piccolo's plan. It was just so simple...

"MY EYE!" Vegeta roared at the top of his lungs, covering the bleeding organ with his white-gloved hands. Suddenly, the blood began to stain the gloves, covering the white with a pink haze that dripped the inky-red liquid to the ground. "WHY IS IT ALWAYS THE GOD-DAMN EYE?!"

The pain burned through his very skull; suddenly, nothing else seemed to matter anymore. In his fit of rage he swung his tail violently against a stone tower, reducing it to nothing more than a pile of boulders. Behind him, he heard a light TAC sound, but he thought nothing of it. After all, the searing sensation in his eyes had diverted his focus from the battle to the pain.

Piccolo removed his index and middle fingers from his forehead, but kept them stuck together. Energy sparked curiously from his long nails and the aura around his fingers oscillated aggressively, reflecting the emotions of its conjurer.

Meanwhile, behind Vegeta, Krillin raised his arm high above his head, preparing to use an attack that he'd refined over the past year - one he was planning to use against Nappa, had Goku failed to arrive on time to the battlefield. The bald-headed warrior knew exactly where his target was; it was just a matter of finding the right time.

Goku's best friend immediately tensed the muscles in his right arm and summoned an array of circling sparks of electricity above his open hand. The sparks began to spin quickly and they quickly flattened to make a solid golden rotating disc, hovering right above the hand like a pizza platter. The monk narrowed his eyes and waited for the precise moment for which he should strike.

The Mighty Oozaru angrily swung his tail into the rock formation behind him, unknowingly signaling his own demise. Krillin swung his arm forward and flung the Kienzan attack at full speed.

Seeing the razor-sharp energy race towards Vegeta, the Namekian grinned, his two fingers crackling with the hopeful instrument of the Prince's destruction. 'This is it… it's all or nothing!'

The time was now. Without a moment's hesitation, he thrust his index and middle fingers forward, tendrils of energy arcing around the attack.

There was nothing left to say… other than...

"SPECIAL BEAM CANNON!" At that precise moment, Piccolo thrusted his arm forward and released a spiraling beam of purple-yellow ki, hoping and pleading it would be enough. Truly, this was the last of his energy; he would have no other chance. All he could do was watch as the beam arced through the atmosphere, aiming for the monkey's massively large abdomen.

Meanwhile, the Prince of Saiyans began to gasp heavily in shock. The world around him was a distorted, blinded mess. That sniveling brat had temporarily taken away one of the most important senses in battle: his sight. If he'd tried to do that to his opponents, it wouldn't have mattered as much; they had the unique ability of sensing energy at their disposal. Silently, he fumed at the fact he didn't have a scouter to assist him in finding his young opponent.

He tried to will himself onwards, stepping forward, but was halted in his path by a searing pain in his iris; that damn brat had truly delivered some everlasting damage whether he knew it or not. 'C-Curse him… I'll break every bone in his body and watch as Kakarott cries out in agony!'

Just as the pain couldn't get any worse, Vegeta felt a shock jolt through his entire body, freezing him in place. He suddenly felt nauseous, as if he were about to hurl violently… What had happened? He felt nothing before this; someone certainly hadn't gotten the drop on him. Kakarott was down, and he was the only person who could've even remotely inflicted him harm in this weakened state.

Instinctively, he tried to tighten every bone in his body, when it dawned on him: his tail was gone. He didn't know how it happened, but the last sign of proof of his Saiyan blood had been severed from his body.

Krillin's attack, which he had dubbed the "Destructo Disk" arced backwards after cutting off the Saiyan's tail and crashed into a stone mountain, sawing the formation entirely in half before spontaneously exploding.

'N-No!' Vegeta internally cursed, already feeling his equilibrium shrinking back to its normal size. The massive power… the height and muscles that came with the Oozaru transformation… he could feel it all sinking away for the last time. 'These Earthlings… how could they…'

Vegeta would never get the chance to finish that thought, for a spiraling beam of a purple-yellow hue immediately impaled him through the solar plexus, sending him falling to the ground with a gaping hole in his abdomen. At that precise same moment, a faint crackle of electricity echoed in the atmosphere around him and the sound of metal shattering rang through his ears. The acrid smell of burning flesh filled his nose, and the invader coughed a sea of blood. His mind zipped quickly, trying to find any possible way to achieve victory. But it no longer mattered.

The Prince of Saiyans hath fallen...

* * *

**_Thanks for reading our new chapter, everyone! It wasn't the most fun for us to write, but it certainly got a lot accomplished. It won't be long until TSC finally gets to show its unique qualities; we really can't wait to show you all what really diverges TSC from DBZ. After all, there's only so much you can do with the Saiyan Saga (though we think we did a fair job of keeping things fresh and exciting). In later chapters, however, a lot of new elements and concepts of DBZ will be explored; characters and their traits will be further explored as a result of these changes (i.e. Goku's sudden murder of Nappa), and new enemies will arise! _**

**_First and foremost, the goal of this story has been to present a timeline where every single movie/special of DBZ can fit (in some way, shape, or form), so expect to see some of your favorites soon!_**

**_Before we get to our Q&A, we need to explain one of the vital concepts we introduced in this chapter. The Spirit Bomb DID, in fact, hit Vegeta, and DBZ fans know that's something that didn't happen in canon (well, not until Krillin tried anyways; and even then, the attack had lost a significant amount of power). The Genki Dama is one of Goku's most powerful techniques; it packs quite the punch. As such, upon contact, Vegeta was quite damaged, much like he was in DBZ._**

**_Now, we don't normally (and will not start to) introduce power levels regularly, but this is one of those times where we can see people giving us reviews of shock/confusion - we deemed it necessary to intervene. Due to being hit with the Spirit Bomb, Vegeta was, as stated above, severely injured. We both believe his power to have been around the ~1,000 range after the attack. Vegeta then goes on to fire off his power ball, which decreases his power levels significantly. In DBZ Kai Uncut (from which we borrowed quite a bit of dialogue), Goku wonders why Vegeta would launch the Power Ball if it dropped the latter's power level by so much. For TSC, we simply decided that his power would be cut in half, which brings us from 1000 to 500. The Oozaru is a 10x multiplier, so we simply multiply 10 by 500 to get 5,000. That's about and around Nappa's power level, which is why we had Goku proclaim internally that he could easily defeat him at full power (as, without Kaio-ken, we believe his power to be around the ~8,000 range)._**

**_Also, we hope you were surprised by the ending of this chapter. Vegeta is one of our favorite characters, and we really wanted to do his battle justice by giving him the durability to tank some of the Z-Fighters' most powerful attacks. In the end, however, teamwork (and Senzu Beans) trumped all obstacles. _**

* * *

_Q: Interesting, Goku is weaker than canon as he is not at full power. I still don't see his Kamehameha failing, especially if he manages a x4 Kaioken._

_A: That's right! Though his battles with Nappa and Vegeta have tired him out quite a bit, the Kaioken x4 was definitely enough to overpower the Galick Gun. This was a detail that we felt would lessen our story if we changed it; the Kamehameha/Galick Gun beam struggle is truly an iconic moment in DBZ, if not THE iconic moment of the series._

_Q: What makes Goku a great hero, in my opinion at least, is that he is willing to kill but that's never the only choice. I think that Goku will only kill those that he has to kill, but once he doesn't he's willing to let anyone live. Take Frieza for example. Frieza was a monsterous person, but Goku was willing to let him live. Part of the reason was that Frieza was completely at Goku's mercy. Goku could kill him at anytime, so Goku was able to choose to let him live. However, it's different when the opponent is still a threat, like the case was with Cell. In those instances, Goku will not hesitate to use lethal force, or advocate lethel force in that specific case.I don't think making Goku into a realist works, because Goku is not a realist. That mindset just doesn't work for him._

_A: You make very good points, all of which we both respect. However, recall that, in the beginning of such encounters, Goku usually offers his opponents chances to leave the battlefield unharmed. We see this with Vegeta, Burter and Jeice, and many others. That was our main reasoning for writing the previous chapter as we had._

_Also, about the realist part of TSC Goku's character: you're correct; Goku is not a realist. However, TSC Goku, as said before, has experienced things that many would find to drive mad. Goku's trying to control two contradictory mindsets (one which demands revenge and the other which demands a peaceful solution), and he really wants to maintain that whole "pure of heart" side. We know that it really doesn't seem like such a big deal just yet as characterization really wasn't a big aspect of DBZ; here, though, it is. Believe us, what we have planned for our protagonist in terms of development will be quite interesting!_

_Q: [Chiaotzu's paralyzation of Vegeta] That makes no sense...Goku empowers Chiaotzu to do better therefore he can paralyze someone whose about eighteen times stronger? WHAT!? It's a plot hole, and continuing to reference it is dumb because these explanations are ridiculous. Just leave it be..._

_A: This isn't really a plot hole; it's more something that readers don't agree with. We've gotten some criticisms, and have been laughed at for this decision, but ultimately it is feasible. We really don't see what's so difficult to get about Chiaotzu - for a SPLIT SECOND - paralyzing Vegeta, for again, a SPLIT SECOND. We're sorry if you and others dislike it, but it was written that way, and it'll stay that way. It won't affect any fights in the future, and nevertheless, it could really be considered filler content. It's nothing to be concerned about._

_Q: I would like to apologize to you for some of your reviewers' comments, as, quite honestly, I find your reasoning rather sound. While I have some slight disagreements, overall, I do see where you're coming from. I'll give my own comments, and then reply to a few I find necessary._

_A: Thanks for your support of us, but the review section of a story isn't really like a comment section/forum. We're glad that you found some of our plot points fair and that you like our story; however, please refrain from criticizing others' opinions/viewpoints in your review. We weren't exactly happy with the way some of our reviewers spoke their opinions either, but each person has their own opinion - there's only so far you can go to appease others._

_Q: (Note: I found that Gohan's portrayal, as of late, has been kind of weird. It seems like he's still feeling the effects of his father returning, even when he's in battle. I think that now would be the best time to adopt his "Vegeta battle" mentality, i.e. doing anything to protect his father)._

_A: It's a fair criticism. We'll try to avoid writing Gohan in such a manner. We were mainly trying to reference the fact that, even for all his smarts and emotional maturity at this age, he's still a child. He looks up to and adores his father, not to mention that he sees him[Goku] as a hero. In a sense, he's still feeling euphoria from finally seeing his father after a year. Seeing his father struggling, however, might just re-awaken that warrior side of him._

_Q: Oh boy, this isn't good, Goku is a lot weaker then in cannon here, he's going to have to do some serious training if he wants to be able to reach his cannon counterpart's power, because if not, he's not gonna last long since DBZ's main rule is if you're too weak you die or get forgotten. Good luck Goku._

_A: He's not really any weaker here than he is in canon. In the battle, yes, he is, but in terms of full/maximum power, he's equal with his canonical counterpart, as is everyone else. However, things will definitely change with the Z-Fighters here to back up Goku against the mighty Saiyan Prince - for better or for worse, we don't know just yet! Things will definitely be diverging from canon once we get around to the next arc!_

_Q: Amazing chapter again guys. Keep it coming. How often will the chapter updates be? It would definitely give me something to look forward to._

_A: Thanks very much! We work very hard to provide our readers with quality content, haha. As for how we plan to address our update plans... well, we've said repeatedly that we're both very busy people, so we're definitely not going to be adhering to a specific schedule any time soon. However, we do have a plan in the works to hopefully update a bit faster. Upon its release, see Chapter 6's A/N for details._

_Q: I'm expecting the battle with Vegeta to be a lot more gory, and that he'll end up killing them all. This will probably result in the humans learning kaioken in order to keep up._

_A: Without going into too much detail for our plans for the humans, allow us to say that we're not exactly the biggest fans of the humans mass-spamming Kaioken in order to stay relevant. In his own fanfiction, Rott does have Tien and a few others learn the Kaioken, but it's not going to help them in the long run; the truth is, the humans just can't keep up with the Saiyans after a certain point. We hope you'll like what we do have in store for them, though!_


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